The Search for the Truth
by YagyuJubei-chan
Summary: Willow is the daughter of Julia and is told that Vicious is her Father. She doesn't believe that such a cruel man could be her Father, though, and decides to find out for herself the truth.
1. Father

The young girls shoulder length golden hair bobbed up and down as she was walking home from the grocery store. The weather was frightfully cold and the harsh wind nipped mercilessly at her frozen cheeks. The two syndicate men behind her had begged her to take the car to the store, but she told them she was walking, and that was that.

"See Miss Willow, it would have been much nicer if we were to drive instead of walk in this god forsaken cold." Said the older of the two syndicate men, as he was trying with no avail to hold the grocery bags and pull his coat more tightly around him at the same time.

"You didn't have to come." Was her reply as she stared intently at the ground, looking for a small pebble to kick around.

"You know we have to come, your Father's orders." Replied the second syndicate man, who was having a more difficult time handling the bags than the first.

Willow sighed. She hated her Father more than anyone in the world. Vicious, she simply wouldn't take that he was her Father. She couldn't have been spawned from something so evil. It was he that alone made her life so miserable. She was never aloud to go anywhere alone, someone had to be watching her at all times. She had camera's and men watching her 24/7, the only place there wasn't a camera was the bathroom, and if she stayed in there too long people would come and check on her. She wasn't aloud to have any outside friends, none at all. She could only talk at certain times when talked to by strangers. She was schooled at home, and above else she rarely got to see her Mother, Julia, who she resembled in so many ways.

"Vicious is not my Father!" She retorted concentrating her gaze straight ahead now.

"If Vicious isn't your Father," Began one of the men, "then who is?"

Willow had to think about that one. Who else could be her Father? Her Mother was barely let out of Vicious' sight, how could anyone else be her Father?

"Well?" pried the man.

"I don't know," Willow began in a shaky voice, "but it can't be Vicious! It can't be him!"

Then, without a second thought, Willow bolted down the street. She had the sudden urge to talk to her Mother and she wanted to get there as soon as possible. She wanted to know everything. Where she was born, who her Father is, and why she had to be so closely guarded. Was there something her supposed "Father" didn't want her to know about? She needed answers.

She ran faster and farther every passing second. She could here the men behind her calling her name harshly. They were making threats to her. They were screaming if she didn't slow down, they would surely tell Vicious about her little stunt. Hot tears started to spill out of her eyes abundantly as her feet beat down harder on the pavement. Her long coat started to get tangled up in her legs, like black snakes curling around a small helpless mouse, ready to suck the life out of it. Then, in a brief moment, she sharply hit the ground, causing a gash on her cheek that began to openly spill out blood. She tried to get up and escape again, but the syndicate men had already reached her.

"Now look at what you've done! We had to leave the groceries behind in order to catch up to you and now you've cut your cheek! Guess who is gonna get blamed for this? US, we are. Stupid little brat, Vicious is going to hear all about this." The older man screamed at her.

She could feel hands clamp tightly around her arms as she was lifted to her feet. "Please don't." was all she could manage to squeak out.

"Please don't? Is that what you said? How stupid are you? Come on, let's go." Mocked the younger man as the both began to pull her towards syndicate headquarters where she knew Vicious would be waiting for her.

It was quiet the whole way to headquarters. No one said a word. The men still had a tight grip on the girl as the entered the building. The smiling women at the front desk looked at Willow intently.

'Stop pretending to be so nice,' Willow thought to herself 'I know as soon as I'm gone your going to talk about what a bad kid I am, and how I should stop being a rebel.' Everyone knew her at the Syndicate, just because of who her Father was.

The older of the two men holding Willow, walked up to the desk. They whispered a few things and laughed a bit. The desk lady talked into a speaker that Willow knew was connected to Vicious' office. Then she nodded and they headed towards the elevator. The doors opening looked like Hell opening it's gates to Willow.

The men shoved her in and dragged her to the top floor where Vicious' office was located. All three of them walked up to the huge double doors with two large gold dragons on them. The youngest of the two men knocked. It was silent for several second, but just when he was about to knock again, a quiet voice was heard.

"Let her in... alone."

The two men open the doors just enough for her to get in, bowed, and went on their way.

Vicious' room was dark except for a long window on the right side of the wall the spilled light on Vicious and Willow as well as the some parts of the room. The room was a huge square with blood red walls and pitch black carpet. Vicious' desk stretched from one end of the room to the other, with just enough room for him to get in. Being him was the sign of the syndicate, more giant gold dragons with ruby eyes that seemed to glare at Willow. There was a lone leather chair straight across from Vicious' in which Willow sat in uneasily. Vicious' office was so much more elaborate than any other room. More elaborate, but it made Willow get goose bumps every time she went in it.

"I hear there was some trouble coming back from the store today." Vicious stated rather calmly.

"Yes. There was." Willow replied confidently.

"Can I get the story?" Vicious asked, staring at the girl intently.

"Well, I just figured that since I'm 14, I'm old enough to go places on my own and be trusted. So, I ran away from the men watching me." She explained to Vicious.

"And how did you get the cut?" He asked staring at her cheek.

"Oh, I slipped and fell while running. That's how I got this." She explain while she ran a finger over the wound. It had stopped bleeding.

"That's the whole story? No, it can't be." Vicious said as he rose from behind his desk and started to make his way towards Willow.

"What do you mean?" Asked Willow as her palms began to get sweaty.

"I think you know very well what I mean." Vicious told her as he grabbed his Katana off the wall and unsheathed it. He began to walk closer to Willow until they were only a few feet apart. He took the tip of his sword and put it under Willow's chin, tilting her head up so she was looking straight into his eyes.

"Now tell me, why did you really run away?"

Willow was silent for awhile until she felt Vicious push harder on the sword. "I-I W-wanted to talk to Mom." she finished shakily.

"Why?"

"Because I haven't seen her in awhile..."

"Give me the truth!" Vicious screamed at her.

It was quiet again. Then, Willow whispered, "I wanted to know who my real Father was." 

Vicious stared at the girl for several minutes. Finally he lowered his sword and walked closer to Willow. He leaned down on one knee so that he could look her in the eye.

"You are a very stupid girl. You are my daughter. I am your Father and no one else ever will be. You are my blood, do you understand?"

Willow stared at him with horror in her eyes. "No, your not my Father! I refuse to believe I am part of you!"

With that remark, Vicious arose and grabbed Willow by the shirt. He pulled her up on her feet and struck her sharply across the face, right where her cut was.

She fell to the ground and gingerly caressed her cheek. It was burning and bleeding at the same time. She started to cry again as Vicious' body cast a shadow over her's wincing in pain on the floor.

"I must go to a meeting now, you are to stay in this room and not leave until I return. One of the workers here will check on you occasionally to see if you need anything, otherwise you will not speak. If I hear about you act up at all, I will punish you again. I will lock the door on the way out and all my important things are locked up or hidden so don't even try to escape or do anything stupid. I will return in a couple of hours."

She heard him walk over to the door, a wave of light entered the room signaling that the door was open, then it was slammed shut once again and a click was heard as it locked. Then, all was quiet.

Willow lifted herself to her feet and sat down in a tired heap on the chair.

"He can't be my Father," She whispered to herself, "He just can't be!" 


	2. Mother

A/N: Yo homies. I don't own Cowboy Bebop and only when I take over the world will I. I neglected to say this on the first chapter, but I didn't own it then either... which blows.

What to expect from this chapter: Confusion, darkness, dudes with guns, and a wild, possibly life threatening, car chase that will bring Mother and daughter closer!

So anyway my little subordinates, don't die, eat some gelatin, AND READ MY DAMN STORY WENCH! On with the show! .

It was several hours later and it was getting darker outside which in turn made the room even darker. Willow must have searched around the rooms a million times for something to occupy her time, but when Vicious said all his important things were locked up he really meant every thing in the room. The only thing that she could physically move was the very chair she was spinning in as she heard the office door unlock.

She stopped spinning as she heard a key slid into the lock of the giant double doors. Willow tried not to panic as the thought of more punishment from vicious came into her head. She thought of place to hide but there was no where. She turned her back towards the door as she saw light spill in the room and cast a shadow of the chair in which she sat on the dark carpet.

"Willow?"

That's not the voice she expected. Instead of Vicious piercing male voice, Willow heard a soft feminine voice. She loved that voice more than anything else in the world.

"Willow? Sweets are you in here?" The voice asked again as she heard them step on to the carpet.

"MOTHER!" Willow sprang out of the seat and ran into to Julia's arms. Her Mother's embrace was so warm and caring, and she always smelled like the autumn breeze and fresh baked butter cookies. As she latched on to her mother, she began to cry.

"There, there. It's all right now." Julia cooed into Willow's hair. She pushed her daughter back a little and gently touched her cheek. Even her gentle touched caused Willow to flinch with pain.

"Did Vicious do this to you?" Julia asked her daughter with a look of horror, disgust, and sympathy smeared across her face.

Willow nodded yes and felt like smiling even though she was in so much pain. Her Mother was the only one who knew how truly horrible Vicious was. She was disgusted in him, just as Willow was, which was just another reason why he could not possibly be her daughter. Willow knew her Mother had more sense then to give her self to a pig such as Vicious.

"Come on love, we best go clean up your cheek." She said as she helped her daughter to her feet.

"But V..." Now it even hurt Willow to talk.

"Forget Vicious, I'm your Mother and that will get infected if it is not taken care of soon." Julia said sternly and lead her daughter out of the room and down the hall.

Willow was blinded by the light for a few seconds after being in that dark room for so long. When she finally could open them though, she noticed that Julia was leading her away from the medical room.

"Mom, don't we want to go the other way?" She asked still in a small daze from the light.

"If I bring you there, then They'll just tell Vicious and you'll be beat again." Julia responded. Willow noticed how her Mother looked like she was in pain when she said Vicious.

"Then where are we going?" Confusion was dancing on Willow's words.

Julia looked at her daughter and smiled, "To my house. There, you can properly heal, get good meals, not be threatened by Vicious, and we can catch up. I have something's to tell you that you should have learned about long before."

Willow smiled, which also hurt very much, but she didn't care. She had never been to her Mother's house, but did so long to go. It had always been off limits and if she even suggested it she would be punished severely. The only home Willow had ever know was in a small little extra room that the syndicate used to use for storage.

As they entered the parking lot and Willow climbed into the passenger seat of her Mother's shiny black car, nothing but good thoughts filled her head. She couldn't wait to see her Mother's home. Was it big? Was it small? Where was it located? She was also very excited to finally find things out. She and Julia had so much catching up to do, so much to share. Julia backed the car out very slowly, as if one false move could kill them, which it very well could. She made the car as unnoticeable as it could possibly be. She turned off all lights and music, drove slower then a snail, and tried to make herself seem smaller and less noticeable in the front seat. As the scooted towards the edge of the parking lot, Willow let a small gasp escape her lips. She had completely forgot all about the guards that guarded the parking lots. The strolled with high authority (even though they were the least important people of the syndicate) on a ledge that over looked the parking lot. They wore the same long black coats as all syndicate member wore, and toted large guns at there side. Willow groaned a little. Her Mother and her were never going to get out of this! 

Julia smiled at her daughter and ran the back of her hand gently across her good cheek, "Don't worry," She whispered, "I'm going to get you out of here. I promise."

Julia took a small cellphone out of her pocket and dialed a number. She put the phone on speaker phone in the car and told Willow to start crying like there was no tomorrow.

"But why?" Willow asked giving her Mother a confused look.

"Just do it!" She replied as whoever she called answered the phone.

"What?" Answered a gruff male voice.

On cue, Willow started to bawl her eyes out. It really wasn't that hard for her to do, she just had to imagine Vicious had found them.

"Oh lord help us," Julia screamed in a frantic southern accent, "these two thugs just beat up my poor lil dumplin' and took mah purse!"

Willow had to hold back as hard as she could from laughing. She barely got to see her mother, and when she did, she never acted like this!

"Well miss," Replied the voice, "Where did this take place?"

"Tha east end of tha parkin' lot! Hurry please sir! He had a gun!"

"A gun? This is more serious than I thought. I'll be right down!"

"Thank ya sir!"

"No problem, mam."

Willow looked up at the two guards. One had just hung up a phone and gestured to the other man to follow him. As soon as they were out of sight, Julia slammed her foot down and went speeding away from the syndicate. They reached the highway and started to crisscross in and out of people. Willow gripped her seat. She was scared to death, yet oddly having fun at the same time. Finally, after nearly getting run over by exactly three semi's, Julia pulled into an alleyway that was far off the road.

Out of breath she tuned off her car and fell back against the seat. Willow couldn't take it any more. She started to laugh. She laughed so hard she forgot all about the wound on her cheek and her crazy "Father". She laughed as if near death experiences were the funniest things in the world.

"I didn't know you were southern." Willow paused for a while to look at her Mother.

"Well shucks little lady! I had no idea you had such strong lungs with all that cryin' and carryin' on!" Julia replied in her southern tone.

The two looked at each other for a brief moment, only to laugh there hearts out a few moments later. A tear slid down Willow's cheek, and she was glad she could say it was just from laughing so hard even though it wasn't. This was the first time she had laughed with her Mother since she was two. This was the first real adventure and fun they ever had together, and she never wanted it to ever end.

After a while things calmed down. It was now pitch black outside. Julia leaned over and wrapped her arms around her daughter, while lightly placing a kiss on her forehead. Willow snuggled against Julia and they both sat that way for what only seemed like 3 seconds, but what was really more like 45 minutes.

"I missed you Mom." Willow whispered to her Mother.

"I missed you too honey." She whispered back, tightening her grip on her.

"I swear Mom, one day we won't have to worry about this. I'll kick Vicious' ass, Mom, just wait and see! He'll be sorry he messed with me!"

Julia laughed to Willow's surprise, "Your just like your Father..."

Willow's eyes went wide, "M-my Father?"

"Come now, you don't think Vicious was really your Father, now do you?"

Willow vigorously shook her head, "No, but who is my Father! You've got to tell me!"

Julia smiled at her little girl and returned to her seat. She started the car again and began to back out on to the road.

"I'll tell you everything as soon as we reach home."

Willow sighed and stared out the window, "My real Father," She whispered to herself, "I'm going to find out who my real Father is!"

Beef: GASP! Well, I hope you liked it! Sorry it took so long to update, my computer is a wench and wouldn't negotiate with me. Blast it. If I owned microsoft, it would become a donut selling agency and none of this would happen! 


	3. Home

Beef: Yo you swine! Sorry I haven't really updated lately, I'm kinda slow... But thanks for the reviews! They make me so happy! Damn angst. Anyway... My hands smell like dogs. 0.o No, that's not what I really wanted to say, HERE'S what I wanted to say...

younggun Thank you, I feel so loved!

Vicious Sorry my chapters are short. I'll try to make them longer but I get bored easily so I'm not promising anything. Do I hate Vicious? Well, I can't say I really LIKE him but I don't hate him with all my being. It may seem I hate him that bad but he's not the Father type figure (as I'm sure you are well aware) and I'm just writing as if looking through Willow's eyes who absolutley despises him. Could you see if he was all Fatherly though? 0.o

Maruken I'm not sure which weapon she'll use yet... They're both so shiny... .

BloodCrested My first reviewer person for this story! Your awesome, so you get a cookie. brings in huge cookie on crane

OK, on with the story, shall we?

It seemed like the trip to Julia's house was forever when really it couldn't have been more than thirty minutes. Willow tried to keep herself occupied by looking out the window and finding random things that could hold her interest. When they were stopped at a red light she found a drunk man who thought he was an airplane and almost speeded into the street if one of his friends wouldn't have stopped him.

"Damn," Willow quietly cursed with a small smirk, "I wanted to see him get hit!"

"What are you mumbling about?" Julia questioned her daughter.

"Nothing." She said lazily and slouched down in her seat.

Julia smiled and tousled the girls hair a bit. The red light was done, and Julia sped off leaving the drunk man as nothing more than an after thought. Willow continued to stare out the window, she wanted to remember how to get to her Mother's house in the event that Vicious ever caught her, which was a terrible thought but she knew it was likely to happen. Willow sighed and then shook her head vigorously. She would get Vicious out of her head and not even slightly think about him until she had to deal with him again. But still, she wanted the way to her Mom's house memorized.

A little while later, Julia pulled into a parking lot. She parked her car and looked over at her daughter with a 1,000 watt smile.

"We're here!"

Willow made her way slowly out of the car and looked around. It wasn't what she had expected at all. She always thought her Mom lived in some small little cottage with flowers and deer and what not all around. But this, this wasn't a little cute cottage at all. She wouldn't call it broken down, but is wasn't a palace either. Julia lived in a beige apartment complex. The outside wasn't much on looks, and it was sort of on the small side, but it attracted Willow somehow.

Julia bent down to whisper in her daughter's ear, "My apartment is on the top floor, can you guess which one it is?"

Willow's eyes traveled up the building and landed on the top floor where they immediately went to a window that had a flower box under it. It was the end of winter, so their really wasn't much in it. But just by the looks of it you could tell that something was lovingly planted their each year. It was the only window that had a flower box.

"Do you know what I plant their?" Julia asked with a sparkle in her eyes.

"What?"

"Oh come on! You should know!"

"Well, I don't."

"Lillies, Willow, night lillies. Do you remember?"

How could she forget. That was the best night of her life. It was her tenth birthday, at exactly 12 'o' clock at night when Willow should have been asleep. She was having a terrible day, Vicious gave her no gifts, no cake, not even a "happy birthday". In fact, she had to stay in her room all day without talking just because it WAS her birthday. She was crying in bed silently, with fear that if Vicious heard she was still awake he would beat her, when someone entered her room. Tears ran more freely down her cheeks as she tried desperately to make up an apology in her head for still being awake when instead of Vicious, Julia took her up in her arms. She carried her too her car and took her to a far away field that was bursting with night lillies and fireflies. They spent the whole night smelling the sweet aroma of lillies and enjoying the soft glow of the fireflies. From that day on, night lillies have always been Willow's favorite flower.

"Willow... Willow ... sweetie come on let's go inside it's cold out here!"

Julia's voice brought Willow back from her flash back, "Uh... Yeah! Sure! Sorry Mom."

"No prob, just come on!"

The two girls hurried in the building and climbed their way up the stairs to the top floor. Once they reached the top Julia walked to the second door on the left which read Room 403 on a shiny gold plate. She swung the door open, and stepped inside followed by her daughter. When willow entered the room she was hit by the smell of brownies that were cooling on the kitchen table. Willow surveyed the whole building. It was like one giant room, except for bathrooms and bedrooms which had their own little separate nooks and the kitchen which was a whole different room all together. The living room area (which was closest to the door) had a fuzzy red carpet on which sat a glass coffee table that had assorted knickknacks on it. Their were two plush red chairs on either side of the coffee table, and next to one was a large floor lamp, while next to the other was a small book shelf. Traveling farther was the kitchen table, which was next to a window that had plain white curtains. It had four seats and a radio sat on the table. From what she could see of the kitchen, it was a blue color with all the normal stuff a regular kitchen has. All in all, it looked like a cozy little home.

"My bedroom is down that way," Julia stated as she pointed down a hall to the right, "and on the opposing side we have a guest bedroom and the bathroom. It is your decision where you want to sleep."

Willow nodded her head and plopped down on one of the red chairs closest to the book shelf, "Wait here, I'll go get some medicine for your cheek." Julia said as she scampered into the bathroom to get supplies.

Willow took this time to investigate. (someone's knocking at my door and it's creeping me out but that's got nothing to do with the story so let's continue.) She glanced around the room until her eyes stopped at the table in front of her. It was a delicate glass table with gold trimming, and it was clean all except for one picture. That picture is what caught her eye. Framed in silver, there sat a tattered picture. It looked as if it had been soaked in water, stepped on, and torn, but it was still visible. The picture itself was of a man who looked to be somewhere in his twenties. He had rather poofy brown hair with hints of green in it, and strange brown eyes. She sat their pondering what it was about his eyes that were so strange. Deciding to get a closer look Willow bent down to pick the picture up, but was halted when her Mother came bustling in the room with bandages.

"Here we are..." She said as she kneeled by her daughter and dabbed some alcohol on a cotton swab, "Now this may sting a bit."

"Doesn't hurt at all." Willow replied nonchalantly.

"Really?"

"I've faced worse."

"I'm sure you have, but look on the bright side-"

"There's a bright side?" Willow cut off her Mother.

"Yes, Just look at how strong you are! Your the scariest 14 year old I've ever seen, I wouldn't mess with you. I did always want you to be girlie in all honest truth, but I guess with Vicious that was sort of impossible huh?"

"I'd shoot myself if I was girlie."

Julia smiled and proceeded to put medicine on her cheek, and then a bandage, "There. Is that better?"

Willow nodded yes, "Good. Now, go get a brownie and meet me in my room to catch up on things."

Willow hopped out of her seat and went over to the brownies. She was starving, and barely ever got to have snack foods let alone home baked one's. She only got them when her Mother brought them, or one of the syndicate people didn't want one's from their lunch. It was a rare treat. She picked the largest one, and headed to her Mother's room.

Once she reached the door she knocked on it timidly, "Come in," She heard her Mother reply and entered with the brownie in hand.

Julia's room wasn't anything special at all. All that was in it was a plain double bed with white sheets, a dresser in the corner, another floor lamp, and a full length mirror. The walls were white and it was rather empty, but oddly enough it still had a homey sort of vibe. Willow scooted over to the bed, took off her shoes, and sat cross legged in front of her Mother. Julia was staring at a picture in her hands and seemed distant. It was quiet for what seemed like forever.

"Soooooo, you gonna tell me about Dad?" Willow finally broke the silence.

"Huh? Oh yes! Your Father!" Julia said, breaking out of her daze.

Willow hands got sweaty, and she feverishly ate up her brownie. She was nervous, yet excited at the same time. She wanted to know it all, but was she ready for it? The girl was a fighter, no doubt about it, but could the shock of who her Father really is finally get to her. What if he's worse than Vicious? She never thought it possible, but maybe. What if he was dead? Then their would be no escaping Vicious. 'Why do these thoughts only come to my head now!' she thought to herself as she waited in anticipation.

"Well, Vicious isn't your Father." Julia stated.

"No crap."

"Yeah, you knew that..."

"Stop beating around the bush!"

"Sorry! OK, um... how do I say this..."

It was quiet for a while again. Willow was about to scream until her Mother began again.

"Your Father... He... He used to be apart of the syndicate. He was best friends with Vicious, they were comrades and always had each others back..." Julia began.

'Great', thought Willow, 'He is a follower of Vicious...'

"They got along great until one day. He was in a battle of some sort, and was terribly wounded. I was just leaving to go to the grocery store when I saw him standing their. He looked half dead and I could very well tell he would die if I just left him. I saw his syndicate badge, and knew it would be OK with Vicious, who I was dating at the time, if I took care of him. I took the man in, cleaned his wounds, and gave him a safe warm place stay. I was up with him as much time as I could bear and for a while I was worried that he wouldn't wake up... But then, one day I was humming a song by his bed. I was reading a magazine, and wasn't really aware that he was awake yet. I heard a groan, and looked down to find him awake. I leaned closer to him in case he was trying to tell me something. He told me one thing."

"He told you what?"

"Just like that. Sing for me, please."

Willow could see tears coming to her Mother's eyes, but she continued on, "I kept him at my house for a while, he still needed to heal. In the time he was their, we fell in love. We couldn't help it. I tried my best to be loyal to Vicious, but he had changed so much. He wasn't the man I fell in love with any more. Still, we knew we were both in danger if Vicious ever found out about are relationship, so we decided to just meet secretly. It didn't work out. Vicious had his suspicions and we both knew it was getting increasingly harder to not get jealous, and we began to pine when we were each away from one another. We couldn't go on the way we were anymore..."

"So what happened to him?"

"He left the syndicate, and invited me to go to."

"Why didn't you?"

"Because I would be killed if I went. It wasn't really my life I was that concerned about, though. It was the unborn you."

"What became of my Father?"

"He left. I don't know anymore than that. From that day on I was never allowed to speak of him, look for him, or even cry over him. Vicious became more hard on me, and monitored my every move. When he found I was pregnant with you, past the point of abortion, he was furious. He beat me, and told me the baby would be raised as his own, and would never know of it's true Father. I had lost all control. I couldn't do anything. I'm so sorry Willow..."

Julia was sobbing now. Willow reached over and hugged her, and Julia pulled her in tighter. She cried into her daughter's hair relentlessly and seemed to be hugging her tighter by the moment. After a bit, she finally let go to Willow who began to breath again.

"I'm sorry," Julia choked out as she handed a picture to Willow, "this is your Father."

It was the same man as the one on the coffee table. In this picture, he seemed much more happy. He was hugging Julia who was hugging him back and they were both standing in the sunset somewhere. They both had expressions on their face like their wasn't a care in the world. Willow had never seen her Mother so happy, it made her even angrier at Vicious for taking away her smile.

"What's his name, my Father I mean?" Willow asked as she looked up from the picture.

"Spike. Spike Spiegel." Julia responded, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Spike Spiegel, huh?" The name sounded odd on her lips. Odd, but nice.

Julia stood up and stretched a bit, "There ya go, kiddo. You know who your Dad is. Now if you don't mind I think I'm gonna go to bed. I've had enough angst and drama for one night, don't you think? Want to join me, I mean we caught up on sad times, but I got happy stories to."

"Sure, Mom. I'll sleep with you, even though it does sound like we're making passes at each other."

The two girls smiled at each other. They got into their sleep wear (Willow of course had to borrow some of Julia's stuff) and crawled into bed together, and that's where they stayed together all night. A Mother and Daughter catching up and telling stories about all that have happened in their lives. Their wasn't a care in the world, and for that night, Willow had true happiness for the first time.

Beef: What a corny ending. Willow's a wench. How come she get's a brownie and I don't?  
Willow: 'Cause I'm cooler than you.  
Beef: I CREATED you you swine!  
Willow: Yeah, and you also created the brownie I'm eating, SO GO MAKE YOUR OWN.  
B:FINE!  
W: Ok.  
B.  
W.  
B: I'm too lazy to.  
W: No kiding?  
B: I could kill you off.  
W: Yeah and lose your story... AND reviewers.  
B: Blast you.  
W.  
B: Well, thanks for reading. Sorry it took so long, I'll try to get the next one up sooner, alright peeps? See ya space cowboys. 


	4. A day in the Life

Beef: NYUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH! I haven't updated in a minute, yo! (Getting in touch with my inner gangster) Anyway, sorry this took so long. It's just with spring break and all these blasted speaches and projects and what not. I did, though, CONQUER A MOUNTAIN! GOATS AND ALL! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! MT.ALCHEMY BEEF WILL FOREVER RULE... um... ALL OF THE WOMBAT POPULATION! Yes, fear me! 

younggun: Don't worry, my plot won't be wasted like some stupid stoner drunk person. You know what, you deserve a cookie too. Hands cookie

BloodCrested: Hell yes you got a cookie. A BIG 'OL one at that! See, aren't I a awesome writer?

What to expect in this chapter: Mom's, a little girl, a grocery store, a boy eating a bike chain, bike beating, an old lady, milk, some cake, action, and DEATH! W00T! (I know you've all been waiting for it...)

Now on with the tale!

* * *

Willow's happiness continued as spring dawned upon the planet. She lived happily with her Mother, and all thoughts of Vicious slowly but surely crept out of her head. At first she was paranoid, she was positive that Vicious would come out of no where and kidnap her in the night. She feared going out alone for a period of time because she was almost positive syndicate men would be standing their waiting for her. That's why when no one came to claim her she was so surprised. It was almost as if Vicious completely forgot about her, which didn't bother her at all. She loved living with Julia, and soon became attached to the home. The guest bedroom soon became her own and she and her Mom went out to buy her new clothes, shoes, everything. It was like she was starting a brand new life, and just that was enough to keep her content.

These are the exact thoughts that filled Willow's head as she was headed to the grocery store. Her Mom needed more milk to make homemade cookies for dessert. Among other things, Julia taught her daughter how to bake. She made many trips to the grocery store, about twice a week, and began to get to know the workers. The store was family owned, on the small side but still had everything you need, and it was close to her home. In her mind, that was enough reason for it to be her favorite store.

Willow's head phones were on full blast as a cold blast hit her when she entered the grocery store. She looked around at the small store with beige walls and the scent of ripe vegetables pulling at her nose. She was on her way over to where the milk was located when she was stopped by someone who grabbed her around the waist.She let out a small gasp of surprise, then kicked with all of her might at the person who had grabbed her. Apparently she hit them with enough force to let her go and knock them on the ground.

"Want some more jack-" She turned around and saw it was her friend, Vince, who had grabbed her and was now on the ground rubbing his butt with a hurt expression on his face.

"Your no girl, you a monster, ya know it?" He replied to her actions.

"I'm so sorry Vince! I thought you were some pervy old man looking for a sweet young thing or something like that! It was just natural instinct to attack!" Willow explained to her friend.

"And attack you did you beast! Now I can't feel my butt and my legs are twitching for who knows what reason but it probably has something to do with your damn ninja move!" He responded as he tousled around his grass green hair.

"Not my fault your weak." She replied smugly.

"Weak?"

"Yes. Weak. You couldn't even withstand my LIGHTEST kick."

"That's just 'cause YOUR. A. BEAST."

The two glared at each other for a minute or two, then cracked up laughing. Vince had become Willow's best friends in the months she has lived with Julia. They met when Willow was sent to go to the store to get a few things for dinner. As she was leaving the apartment, she saw a boy who was struggling to get his bike chain off his bike. Willow stared at him for awhile, but finally decided to help him when he resorted to biting the chain to get it off.

"Um... Excuse me? Do you need some help with that, or is the chain meant to be eaten?" Willow asked as she approached the boy.

"Oh, um, yeah... My uh, chain. It's jammed." He told her as he stood from his squatting position and slightly blushed.

"It's jammed, huh?" She asked as she leaned down toward the bike and chain.

"Yeah, I tried everything. The key won't open it and I tried to pick it several times... It's probably cursed or something. It want's me to be late."

"Late for what?"

"I work down at the grocery store at the end of the street. You know, the little family owned one?"

"Really? Cool, that's where I was just headed. Maybe you can escort me there after you give me that metal pole over there." she said while pointing to a sturdy metal rod leaning against a crate.

He walked over and handed the pole to her. She took it and nodded her head to single her thanks, and with that she began to mercilessly beat the lock with the metal pole.

"What are you doing! ARE YOU CRAZY, YOU'LL KILL MY BIKE!" He screamed at her as she continued to bang.

"Hey, do you want it freed or not?" She replied with a small smirk of joy.

"NOT IF YOU BREAK THE BIKE TO-"

He stopped in mid yell. The lock snapped off and the chain slithered off the perfectly intact bike. Willow dropped the pole at her side and bent down to pick up the beaten lock. She looked it over, smiled at her handy work, and gave it to the boy.

"See," She stated, "If at first you don't succeed, beat the crap out of it."

She began to walk off with a satisfied smile but then the boy began to follow her, "That. Was. AWESOME!" He gushed at her.

"Nothing really." Was all she replied as he continued to praise her.

When they finally reached the store, Willow helped the boy as he parked his bike.

"Hey, I never got you name, did I?" He asked as the finished the parking job.

"Oh, it's Willow, and you?" She asked extending her hand.

He grabbed it and shook it eagerly, "I'm Vince. Hey, do you want me to show you around the store? I mean there's not much to see except some beef growing ice in the freezer... But still, I wanna get to know you better so you can teach me how to beat the crap outta people."

Willow looked at him and laughed, "I would love to see your beef, and I'll teach you to beat the crap out of anything you want."

That's where the friendship began. Vince was only a year older then Willow (15) and had green hair that went to his shoulders in a sort of spiky cut. Bangs danced over his crystal blue eyes and he always had a smile on his face. He had a great sense of humor, and was very likable. He also lived in the same apartment complex as Willow, so they visited often. It was the first real friend that Willow ever had, and she loved him dearly.

"So, wench, feel like helping me up anytime soon." He asked her, breaking her away from the flashback.

"Maybe... Then again maybe not you swine." She told him with a smile, then extended her arm to help him up.

He took it with a smile and hoisted himself to his feet. He brushed off his shirt and then looked at his friend, "So, what brings you too this fine establishment this lovely evening?"

"My Mom's making cookies and needed some more milk." She told him as they began the descent back to the milk.

"What kinda cookies?"

"Peanut butter... I think."

"Awesome. I love it when you guys bake cookies. The whole apartment complex smells good for days. Of course, if your allergic to cookies or about to vomit then they probably hate you. Cookies and allergies and vomit don't mix well. But cookies and milk do. Am I rambling?"

Willow chuckled, "Just a little," She replied as she headed over to the cash register to pay for the milk.

"You know what? If you give me something, I'll give that milk to you for free." Vince told Willow in a playful manner.

"No, Vince, I will not sleep with you."

"I DIDN'T MEAN THAT! I MEANT GIVE ME SOME OF THE COOKIES YOUR GONNA BAKE!" He retorted with a small blush, glad that no one else was in the store to hear what Willow just said.

"Calm down! I was just playing with you! Besides, won't your uncle get mad at you for giving away food to the costumers?"

"Screw him. He thinks he's all high and mighty just 'cause he owns the store." Vince replied as he placed Willow's milk into a bag.

"Well, that is kinda important..."

"Just take the milk and go. I'll deal with the wrath that is my family, OK?" He said, extending the bag.

Willow took the bag and was on her way out the door, "Fine. It's a deal. I'll be sure to poison the batch we give you. Later Vince!"

"Thanks, Ms. Sincerity," Was all Willow could here Vince say before the heavy grocery store door closed and she stepped back out into the spring warmth. It was a beautiful day. It was sunny and warm, people were out everywhere walking there dogs, or playing with children. It was days like these that were so rare to Willow. She never would have dreamed she would be standing there back a couple of months ago. She took a deep breath and began to walk slowly back to her house. She wanted to treasure the moment. The moment of true freedom.

Willow had almost reached her house when she decided she didn't want to go home yet. _'It's too nice out to be stuck inside cooking all day... But what do I do with this milk?'_ She stared at the gallon of pure white in dismay. She wasn't going to walk around the city with a gallon of milk in her hand, but what else was there to do? 'I can't just leave it here and piss off Mom...'

She was just about to head home when she saw a God send. One of her more elderly neighbors was on her way home, Willow decided she would take the milk home for her.

"Hey, Mrs.Fletcher (hee hee! Sorry...)," Willow ran up to her eagerly.

"Yes, dear?" She asked Willow with a smile.

"Can you take this milk up to my Mom and tell her I'll be a little late but not to worry?"

"Of course I can," She took the milk from Willow, "Now go and have fun."

"I will! Thanks!"

With that, Willow took off running. She didn't know where she was running exactly, she just knew she had too run. She ran past street after street, building after building, all around the city. She wanted to fully enjoy her freedom, and what better way was there too? She ran and ran, screaming and laughing as she did. She knew people probably thought she was crazier than a loon, but she didn't care. Energy coursed through her veins and she picked up speed. Running and running and running, until something made her stop.

"Come on little girl, come play with us. We'll have LOADS of fun."

"No! Go away!"

Willow spotted a small girl, no older than 7 or 8, being hassled by two boys that looked to be about 16 or 17. They were in a dark alley, and the girl was sitting in a corner, clutching her legs to her chest. Her bright violet eyes sparkled with terror as she kept trying to make her self smaller and smaller.

"Damn you, you little bitch!" The taller bully screamed and slapped her hard across the face.

"You should know by now that no is not an option stupid little wench!" The other one screamed at her, and then proceeded to kick her hard.

Willow looked at the little girl and couldn't help seeing herself there instead of the child. Her mind was plagued with terrible flashbacks of beatings that she didn't deserve, cruel punishments, and Vicious. Willow clenched her fists. No one should ever go through what she went through and it made her stomach turn to see it happen to others. The girls screams brought Willow back to her senses.

"Hey bastards, why don't you come play with someone a little more grown up?" Willow made her way into the alley way.

"Who the hell are you?" The taller bully asked as they focused their attention from the girl, back to Willow.

"I'm the person who's gonna kick your asses for being such pigs towards a little innocent girl."

"Is that so? I don't think you know who your dealing with sweetheart." The smaller of the two spoke.

"Of course I do. Low life SCUM who doesn't belong anywhere in this solar system. Your sucking up all the air good people deserve, not you."

"You'll pay for that one you bitch!" The smaller yelled.

"And you'll pay for calling me a sweet heart."

The two thugs made a low growling noise, then they both took a gun out of a holster on there pants and pointed it straight at Willow.

"Oh, nice toys," She said with a smirk, "but they're a little on the small side, and I was told not to play like that."

"Small, huh? Let's see what you say when you covered with bullet holes!" The taller one said with a grin of satisfaction on his face.

"I probably won't say anything because I'd be dead if I was covered with bullet holes. Man, you people are idiots." Willow replied nonchalantly.

"That's it, TIME TO DIE!" The smaller one yelled and was about to shoot his gun right into Willow's chest, but that never happened. She kicked the gun out of the smaller thugs hands and then kicked him directly in the face.

"Wh-wh-what th-the hell?" Was all the taller thug could say before Willow whirred around and slapped the gun out of his hands. He watched it slide across the gravel in horror, then tried to make a stab at Willow. He was too slow, and as soon as he dived for her, she moved out of the way and elbowed him hard as she could in the middle of his back. He let out a grunt, but began to crawl towards his gun. He reached out to it only to have his hand crushed by Willow's boot.

"I'll give you one chance asshole. If you leave now I won't have to mutilate you." Willow spat down at him.

He began to growl again, but then his face turned from a frown into a small smile. "Go ahead. Try and kill me. I dare you."

It was a change of heart, a very fishy change of heart. Willow knew that he had some sort of plan in that small brain of his. She glanced down at the gun in front of her on the ground and then knew exactly what his plan was. The reflection on the gun showed the smaller thug was standing right behind Willow with a knife in his hand. Willow's eyes got big as she saw him lift the knife higher and higher.

"Sweet dreams." The taller thug said with a grin.

She saw the knife come down, but she moved just in time. She twirled herself out of the way and proceeded to watch the knife go deeply into the taller thugs chest instead of her own. Blood came gushing out of the wound as the taller man's eyes got huge with pain and fear. He hacked up blood as the younger one kneeled above him in disbelief.

"B-br-brother..." The younger one stuttered out, as tears began to form in his eyes, "BROTHER!"

The younger brother latched on to his older brother back, avoiding the wound as he wailed and asked for forgiveness. The older brother tried to respond, but all that came out was blood. Then his eyes went blank, and it was obvious he was gone. The younger one continued to sob on his brother with no sign of stopping for a while. Willow, after watching the men during the death scene, stood up from her crouched position and walked over to the younger thug.

"Please forgive me, but what happened justified your actions. You should have known sooner or later this sort of thing would have happened, with the lifestyle you lead and all." Willow said as she stood over the brothers.

"YOU KNOW NOTHING," The younger brother spat, "He was my only family, we had each others backs always. We had no one else. Then you... YOU MONSTER! YOU HAD TO KILL HIM! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!"

"As I recall, it was you who stabbed him, and I do know something. I know the pain and fear that little girl went through and I'll be damned if I just sit there and watch you beat her. Sorry for your loss, but I have no sympathy for scum."

The younger brother stared at Willow for a while longer, anger shining brilliantly in his eyes. She was sure he would lash out and attack her, but he never did. Willow stood up and made her way to the little girl. She hid her face inside her arms the whole time curled up in a ball. This made Willow happy, she shouldn't see people die at the age she is.

"Hey..." Willow reached out to the little girl, but she flinched and slightly whimpered once her hand touched her arm.

"Wh-who are y-you?" She managed to stutter out.

"Don't worry, your safe now. I got rid of all the bad guys, they'll never bother you again." Willow responded in her most soothing voice and then gave the little girl a cheerful smile.

The little girl lifted her tear stained face to look at Willow. She was a mess. Her chocolate brown hair which was neatly in braids before, now looked ratty and dirty. Her light blue dress now had huge splotches of brown. Her face was covered with dirt with lines to show where the tears had ran. She looked helpless, but then she smiled back at Willow.

"Thank you." The little girl said with a smile.

"No problem. I've been in that type of situation before, I know how scary it is. Now, let's get you home OK?"

The child nodded and Willow covered her eyes as she passed the corpse. The emerged into the sunlight, and with it came the girls happiness and also her talkative side.

"Hi! I'm April and I'm 7 years old today. Who are you?" She asked cheerfully as she grabbed Willow's hand.

"Oh, I'm Willow. I'm 14, did you say your 7 today? Is it your birthday?" Willow asked quizzically.

"Sure is. See, I was having a party with my Mommy and a few of my friends down at the park. Then, Mommy made me mad when she said I couldn't open presents, eat cake, OR play games until all the guests got to the party. This made me mad. It's my birthday and I wanted to do what I wanted. So I ran away farther than I ever ran before, I usually just stop at the park gate. Then those boys started bothering me. I told 'um to stop but they wouldn't." She explained very matter-of-factly.

"Your parents must be worried sick..." Willow replied as she stared off into the slowly approaching park.

"As you can see, I didn't get very far but it still felt far."

"It's probably better that you weren't far away. Someone your age should never wander too far from their parents."

It was silent for a while, then April grabbed Willow's hand and asked, "Hey, you said you had gone through the same thing I did? Did bad people hit you too?"

Willow looked down at the wide-eyed little girl and gave her a small smile, "Yes, by VERY bad people. But don't worry, the bad people are all gone now. Every. Single. One."

"Well, that's good. If they ever come back though, just call on me and I'll be there lickety-split to save you like you saved me! BAM!" April finished as she punched at the air. Willow laughed at the little girl's enthusiasm as both girls were greeted at the front of the park by April's frantic Mother.

"APRIL! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG WE HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU! WE'VE ALL BEEN WORRIED SICK! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR CLOTHES, YOUR FACE? WHO IS THIS!" The middle aged woman spazed at her daughter as she began to straighten her dress, and fix her hair.

"Mommy calm down! I'm fine!" The girl struggled to regain composure from her Mother.

"You don't look fine! Did this WRETCH hurt you in any way?" April's Mother spat at Willow.

"This WRETCH saved me from being hurt really bad Mommy," She said as she pulled away from her Mom and went over to grab Willow's hand again, "Some boys began to beat me up, as you can see by my cheek, but than Willow here came and saved me! You should have seen her! I don't want to know what would have happened without her Mom!"

"Really? I'm so sorry for calling you a wretch. Thank you so much for saving my daughter, how can I ever repay you?" The Mother bowed to Willow.

"Oh, you don't have to do anything. Just knowing she's OK is good enough for me. Really." Willow responded as she began to wonder what time it was. Her own Mother was also probably worried sick.

"No, I must repay you in some way..."

"Um... How about a slice of birthday cake and the promise that you'll keep a closer eye on your daughter?"

"It's a deal. April, go get your friend a slice of birthday cake. Make it big."

April nodded and sprinted towards the cake. There were a few moments of awkward silence as Willow watched April cut the cake a HUGE chunk out of her birthday cake. Some kids began to whine because they wanted big pieces too, but April slowly walked back to Willow and handed her the cake.

"Thank you so much, now I must go." Willow said as she turned to leave.

"Wait, aren't you going to at least eat with us?" April's Mother asked.

"I'm sorry, but I got to go home to my own Mother now." She began to trot towards the exit.

"WAIT! Will I ever see you again?" April asked saddened by the fact her cool new friend couldn't stay.

"Of course I will. Just keep being good OK? Have a happy birthday April! Bye everyone!" Willow waved with one hand, held the cake with the other, and began to run home.

The children saying good-byes sounded more distant as her feet hit the pavement as hard as they could to reach home. Willow knew the cake was slowing her down, so she gave it to a random homeless person on the street and kept running. She ran and ran, as fast as she could go. By the time she reached her house she was out of breath. She gasped as she entered the building and began her decent to the top floor. All the fighting and running took a lot out of her. All she wanted to do when she got home was flop on the couch and read. As soon as she entered the house, though, she knew that was not going to happen.

"Hey Mom, sorry I'm la-" Willow began.

"SHHH! Willow you must hide! Please, quickly!" Julia whispered in a panicked voice as she dragged her daughter to a closet in the back of the living room area.

"But Mom, why?" Willow asked with heavy confusion on her voice.

"Please stay in here and make no noise. Oh God, I knew this was coming." Was all Julia said as she shut the closet door with her daughter inside.

_'What the hell is going on,'_ Willow thought to herself, _'I've never seen Mom so shook up. I wonder what's up? Oh well, I better stay quiet. Hey, this is a good time to rest up, catch a breather. Maybe some crazy stalker is in the building, but who would break into this place. That is unless it was...'_

Willow heard a loud bang as the door crashed open and what sounded like a set of people with heavy boats entered the apartment. Willow heard Julia fumble to her feet, she must have been sitting on the couch, then a third set of boats slowly stepped into the room. Each click sounded magnified as Willow listened on in intensity.

"Why, hello Julia."

A Voice. Willow knew that voice. She hated the voice. She clenched her eyes and hoped it was all just a bad illusion she had created in her mind, even though she knew the harsh reality of it was real. Tears streamed down her face. She sounded out the name softly in the closet.

"Vicious..."

* * *

Beef: BUM BUM BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! Well. It sucks to be Willow right now, lemme tell you. I'd just kill myself if I was in her position.  
Random noodle: No you wouldn't, you chicken swine.  
Beef: Well, which is it? A chicken or a swine? OR A CHICKEN SWINE CHIMERA!  
Noodle: That's it. That's the one.  
Beef: Don't you find it odd that you, a noodle, is calling me a Chicken swine?  
Noodle: No, not at all really.  
Beef: Neither do I. Hey readers, do you wanna know the true identity of the old lady named Mrs.Fletcher?  
Readers: Not really.  
Beef: OH WELL! SHE'S A NAZI SPY WHO LEFT THAT JOB TO BECOME A FLAPJACK TYCOON AT IHOP!  
Readers: .  
Beef: Well, it's the truth. Hope you liked this chapter. I really need to work on making chapters quicker. Please have paitence. In the next chapter I'm pretty sure you'll meet the Bebop crew, but then again, what the hell do I know.  
Noodle: I hope a lot. Your the freaking author for Pete's sake!  
Beef: Who's Pete?  
Noodle: You got me.  
Beef: Well, more later. BYE! 


	5. Nightmare

Hello once again kiddo's! Time for yet another exciting chapter of The Search for the Truth! YAY! Anyway, while I was reading over the last chapter I realized two things. One, it was just a filler chapter (which was what I wanted it to be) and two, why the hell did they need milk to make cookies? 0.o Do you even use milk to make cookies? See, this is why I need to take cooking class, not only to burn down the school but to learn this vital cookie knowledge. Wait a minute... I must go help a sausage cross the street. 10 minutes later FIRE THE TORPEDO'S! Mission acomplished. Cabbage? 0.0 See people, this is what happens when no one reviews! 

I don't own Cowboy Bebop or the Alantic Ocean.

What to expect in this chapter: Vicious, The Bebop, the Bebop gang, Your Mom, Quaker Oats, penguins, and violence! YAAAAAY!

Come, we ride!

* * *

Willow's heart stopped. Her breathing became rigged and she broke into a cold sweat. Vicious was here, in her house, only about 6 feet away from her. Her worst nightmare had become a reality.

_'No! This isn't happening! You'll wake up soon to the smell of Mom's cooking in your nice warm bed and realize it's all a dream! A terrible dream. A nightmare...'_ Willow told herself as she clenched her eyes closed and hoped when she opened them that all this would be over.

"Where is our lovely daughter Julia?" Willow heard Vicious hiss, she opened the door just a crack to see what was going on. Vicious was looming over Julia threateningly.

"I have no idea what your talking about." Her Mother replied in the calmest way she could.

Vicious brought his hand down hard on Julia, knocking her off the seat, "Don't play stupid with me Julia, where did you hide her and what stupid nonsense are you filling her head with?" He said in an almost playful voice.

Julia stayed on the floor slightly shaking from the blow. How Willow wished she could go and knock Vicious out and then run away with her Mother, far away, to a different planet even. This was no time to dream, though, and Willow continued to watch the scene in horror.

"I told you," Julia spoke in a quavering voice, "I have no idea where Willow is, in fact it disturbs me that you haven't found her yet. You claimed to have the best investigation department on the planet."

Vicious glared at Julia in disgust, looking as if he was contemplating whether to slap her again or just shoot her right there on the spot. After a few seconds he did something that Willow nor Julia expected him to do, he smiled. A creepy smile, but nevertheless, a smile, _'This cannot possibly be good...'_ Willow thought to herself as she began to nervously bite her nails.

"Well then," Vicious said in that icy tone of his, "I guess if you really have nothing to hide, you wouldn't mind my men looking around your house now would you?"

With that Vicious made a small movement with his hands and pretty soon syndicate men where tramping throughout the house, turning over chairs, throwing open doors, destroying every thing they could. Willow broke out into a cold sweat, there was no place for her to run too. She glanced at her Mother and noticed that she seemed just as distressed as she was. All hope was lost. Willow's fairy-tale dream had come to an end, reality once again took her over again in it's cold, clammy, grasp. But to her amazement, they had failed to look in the closet she was hiding in. She closed the door all the way. Even a little crack could get Vicious' attention.

"We searched everywhere boss," The first guy said, slightly out of breath, "We didn't find anything."

"Yeah. Maybe she doesn't have the girl after all." The second guy chimed in.

"Really?" Vicious looked back down at Julia.

"You see. I don't have her, but you better go find her. I don't like the fact that my daughter is lost somewhere..." Julia was cut off by Vicious.

"OUR daughter, and my men seemed to have made a very foolish mistake," Just as he finished, he pointed a pale white finger to the door of the closet that Willow was hiding in, "They seemed to have missed that closet over there..."

A look of sheer terror passed over Willow and Julia's faces, "In fact, I'll check that closet for myself," Vicious added with a smirk as he made his painstakingly long walk to the closet.

_'He knows I'm in here, no doubt in my mind...'_ Willow thought silently to herself, _'That bastard is even taking his time just to add suspense!'_ Willow heard something else then, _'What the... He's whistling! That bastard is whistling!'_

His whistling came closer and closer until his hand was hovering slightly over the door knob. Willow just knew there was an evil gleam and his eye and it made her want to wretch when she thought about the satisfaction he would get from ruining her life again. She thought of any possible way of escape or attack, but her mind was to boggled to think logically and she was weaker than normal from running so long and beating up those punks. All she could do was sit and wait, and to her that was the worst possible situation in the world. Vicious hand had grasped the handle, and she heard it slowly turn, all the while he was still whistling. Then, to everyone's surprise, there was a knock at the door.

Everyone halted. No one breathed, nor did they moved. They all waited, incredulous expressions plastered on there faces. Finally, there was another knock.

"Hey! Willlow! Julia! Anyone home!"

_'VINCE!'_ Willow almost let out a gasp, but quickly refrained remembering the situation. She looked out of a small crack in the door and saw Vicious urging Julia to respond to the boy.

"Y-yes. We're home. Everything is fine!" Julia stammered.

"Are you sure? You sound kinda alarmed..."

"I'm fine. Honestly."

"Cool. Well, I just came to see Willow So I'll just..."

"NO! I mean... Um, she's not here right now. I'm sorry Vince, you'll have to come later."

All was silent for a while, Willow knew Vince must have been dumbfounded. He was always allowed in the house, in fact, he rarely ever knocked. Finally he talked again, "Well, you can't make those cookies by yourself now, can you?"

With that, he burst into the apartment before Julia could say otherwise. The syndicate men all turned there guns toward Vince, who looked like a deer in the head lights. Willow felt Vicious release the doorknob, though she saw his shadow from the crack at the bottom of the door still standing directly in front of the door.

_'Now's my chance!_' and without a second thought, Willow mustered up all of her strength and kicked the door open with all of her might. The door swung open in such a force that it knocked the unsuspecting Vicious to the floor. His head collided with the floor, causing blood to trickle from a wound in his head. In the process of the fall, he had dropped his katana on the floor and it conveniently skidded over to Willow's feet. She smirked as she bent over to pick it up, maybe luck was on her side.

"You little..." One of the syndicate men came at her with his gun aimed at her dead-on, but before he could get very far Vince knocked him over the head as hard as he could with a dictionary he had picked up from the table by the door. The man fell to the ground, while the other decided to get vengeance and started to attack Vince. Willow was about to go over and help her friend, but was stopped abruptly by a much stronger opponent.

Vicious had got up from his position on the ground. He touched his head where the wound was gingerly and then stared at the blood. Soon after, he let out a small smirk.

"You've gotten much stronger Willow, as I told you you would. Now aren't you glad I trained you for all of these years? I am, though, quite appalled that you would lash out at your own Father. You must be punished for that, child."

Vicious began to walk towards Willow, but with every step he took, she took another one back to get away from him, "You call cutting me off from all civilization, not feeding me when I did one thing you thought was wrong, beating me whenever you got the chance, and putting me through hours of vigorous training without rests a good thing? Hell no I'm not glad, and you're **NOT** my Father so stop saying you are!"

"Is that a fact?"

"Yes! Julia told me who my real Father was. I don't know much about him, all I know is that he has to be better than you." Willow was know only a few steps away from the kitchen counter.

"Lies. Do you really believe Julia? You shouldn't, she's a fantastic liar..."

"SHE IS NOT! He's real dammit! **YOU ARE NOT MY FATHER! SPIKE SPIEGEL IS!"**

As soon as Willow said that name, it was like Vicious had been consumed by some tremendous evil Willow had never experienced in him before. She has seen Vicious in horrific moods, but this had to be the worst one yet. He's eyes flashed a deep crimson as he punched Willow directly in the stomach, the blow causing her to drop the katana. Her back hit against the kitchen counter and she tasted blood as it silently fell down her chin in a perfect ruby pathway. She was about to slide to the floor when Vicious roughly grabbed her by her shirt collar and lifted her so that only her hands could skim the top of the counter. Willow tried not to let her fear show as she hunted the table with her hands for something she could save her life with.

"Listen you worthless slime," Vicious hissed through clenched teeth, "you will NEVER repeat that name in my presence ever again, understand?"

Willow just stared on in horror as she still tried to seek help on the counter, when finally her hand grazed something she thought might help her.

"I SAID DO YOU UNDERSTAND!" Vicious bellowed as he slammed her against the counter again and tightened his grip on her collar.

Willow smirked and began to talk through gasps of breath, "I. Am. Spike. Spiegel's. DAUGHTER!"

With that, she took a small package of Quaker oats (Told you there would be oats!) and threw them in his eyes. Vicious made Willow's feet touch the ground again and covered his eyes with one hand, but to Willow's dismay he was still clutching her shirt tightly with his other hand. Just as she started to consider heaven her new home, Julia walked over to the hunched over Vicious, a iron skillet raised high in her hands.

"Let go of my daughter." She stated coldly as she bashed Vicious over the head. He dropped Willow completely, and began to curse and clutch his head. Julia grabbed her hand and nearly dragged her to the front door where a slightly bloodied up Vince was ushering them to hurry up. Just as they reached the door, Willow stopped and turned around.

"Come on Willow we gotta move!" Vince proclaimed, tugging on his friends shirt.

"Hold up." Willow began to walk back over to Vicious.

"WILLOW! COME HERE NOW!" She heard her Mother scream, but she didn't much care. She had to say this.

"You've gotten much stronger, Vicious," She stated calmly as she stood towering over him, "I am, though, quite appalled that you would lash out at your own daughter and call her worthless slime. You must be punished, bastard."

With that final remark, Willow used some of the strength she had remaining to kick Vicious where the sun don't shine. She smiled with satisfaction as she trotted her way back to the door, and out of the building. She met up with the other's in a corner that was out of sight to anyone entering or exiting the building.

"What... The _**HELL**_... was that?" Vince questioned, out of breath.

"A nightmare, nothing more," Julia responded as she stared off into space, "thank you for helping us Vince."

"No sweat! I'll think twice the next time I just enter your guy's house!" Vince replied with a smile.

"Well, I don't think you'll have to worry about that," Willow butted into the conversation, "Now that they know where we live, it isn't safe here. We have to move someplace else Mom. Where are we going to go? Our best bet would be too leave the planet... I think we have enough money, we could go to-"

"No, Willow." Was Julia's reply.

"What do you mean "no"? We can't just stay here! Vicious will be out here any minute!"

Willow saw tears come to Julia's eyes, "I know. That's why you must leave quickly."

"What? Go where? Where are we going Mom?"

Julia's tears were flowing steady now. She pulled her daughter into a tight embrace, "Not we dear, just you. You have to travel alone."

"But why! Mother, Vicious will..."

"I know... but if I go with you, we will be at a higher danger risk and more likely to be caught. More importantly... I don't want you to get hurt. Your all I really have and I cannot stand to think of you being in pain and suffering," Julia's tears became small sobs, "That is why I know you'll be happy where I send you. You'll be with people like you and travel all over the place! Think of all the fun you'll have... I only wish... I only wish I could spend more time with you..."

Julia broke away from the now crying Willow. She was alone again. Where was her Mother planning on sending her? She didn't care. If her Mother wasn't there, it wasn't worth it. She'd rather be stuck with Vicious then think about her Mother being beaten just because she wasn't there. It was no use though, once Julia made up her mind, it was usually for the best. She couldn't help but wonder how it could be the best thing to do, though.

"Vince, take Willow to the harbor where all the ships are docked. Once you reach there, search for a ship called the "Bebop". Once you have found it, help Willow sneak on. Then, your on your own kiddo. I meant to take you there later this week, I guess it's too late now..."

"Hold up! Why the hell am I going to this ship? What is it anyway? Who lives there?" Willow asked in a slightly agitated tone.

A loud noise was heard coming out of the apartment complex. Julia's face became over come with fear, "Hurry! You must go!"

Julia continued to push them on, "Wait Mom! Will I ever see you again!"

Julia stared at her daughter for a while, as if she were telling herself not to forget even one part of her face, then she gave her daughter one last teary smile.

"Tell Spike I said hello."

Then, they ran. Willow didn't even have time to look back. It wouldn't have done her any good anyway, her tears nearly blinded her. The only thing she could feel was Vince guiding her through alleyways and streets, otherwise, she was completely numb. After a while of running. They paused in an abandoned building to catch their breath.

"Willow? Are you OK?" Vince asked in a comforting tone.

"**WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK!** I might never see my Mother..." Willow broke down crying again.

Vince draped his arm over Willow's shoulder, "Sh, calm down. Your Mother will be OK. She's strong, just like you are. You'll both make it through this and you know if you ever need any type of help, I will always be there for you. Be strong for me and I'll always be strong for you."

Willow just sat there for a second thinking of what Vince just told her, "Thanks. Your the best friend anyone could ask for."

Vince blushed slightly, " What can I say! I'm just that awesome! Anyway, beyond this building is the dock..."

"Wow, we've really run that far already?" Willow interrupted.

"Your forgetting, I know short cuts." Vince replied with a wink.

Willow smiled at him and he continued, "There is a ladder over there. If no one is out there to see us, and the walls are to high just to climb, which they most likely will be, then we'll use that to help you get on the ship. Is that a cool plan to you?"

Willow looked at the ladder, and then out a small window that faced the dock. There we all different sizes and types of ships bobbing along in the ocean, but no one was outside that would see them.

"Sounds like a good plan to me. Let's do this."

Vince smiled, "Now THAT sounds like the Willow I know!"

They both grabbed on end of the ladder and made their descent down the dock, looking at all the names on the ships. Ship by ship passed, but none read the name "Bebop." Over time, the two got frustrated as the long row of ships seemed to get longer and the ladder they were carrying seemed to get heavier.

"Ugh! I don't see any ship that say's Bebop on it!" Sighed an annoyed Willow.

"Maybe it's not here..." Replied Vince, "Maybe they left or something. Do you know if they know your coming?"

"Considering I have to sneak on the ship, no. I highly doubt it."

"Yeah, that's true!" Vince nervously chuckled.

Willow sighed out of annoyance again, "Is there any other docks around here? Maybe we're at the wrong one or something."

"This is the only one I know of, and I've lived here all my life... Wait a minute... Willow! I think that's it!" Vince exclaimed, excitedly pointing towards the direction of a ship.

Willow followed his finger and her gaze was caught by a rather large ship. It wasn't really anything special, in fact Willow thought it was rather ugly. It was a mixture between brown and an olive type color and had a small loading deck, meaning it held other, smaller ships. Her eyes trailed along it's immense side until she saw one word sprawled in red ink.

"Bebop." She stated, more just to say it then to inform any one.

"Yeah. This is it. What do you think?" Vince asked as the continued to approach the ship.

"I think it looks like someone just shit it out."

Vince began to laugh, "Yeah, but that's just on the outside. Maybe it's like a palace inside.

Willow snorted, "I highly doubt that."

Once they reached the ship, the walked up to the dock area quietly and gently laid down the ladder. The ladder was just a foot shy of the platform, but she informed Vince that she was strong enough to heave herself up there. So without any further hesitation, Vince held the bottom of the ladder steady while Willow made her way up. Once she reached her destination she gave her friend a thumbs up to say everything was OK. Vince nodded, and took the ladder back down again, but he didn't leave.

"OK Vince, you can go now..." Willow explained, worried to be alone but excited to begin a new adventure.

"Yeah... I guess... Hey, Willow?" Vince questioned.

"Yeah?"

"Promise me you'll be safe OK. Write or call me whenever you can to give me the scoop, and don't be a stranger if you ever want to visit!"

"Got it."

"Oh, and Willow, one more thing..."

"Yes?"

"Get me a souvenir."

Willow smiled at her friend, "Sure. What would you like me to return with?"

"A penguin."

"Can do. Later Vince!"

"See ya!"

Just as she had said her good-byes she heard a peculiar whirring noise in the background. She whipped her body around and noticed a large garage door type door closing, and that seemed to be the only way into the ship.

"NO! WAIT!" Willow began to run towards the closing door. She felt as if she was racing fate, either she made it and saved her and her Mother's lives, or she didn't and lived in a world of unhappiness. Unfortunately for her, she was very slow because she had already used up most of her energy.

_'Damn! I'll never make in time!'_ She cursed to herself, when suddenly, something caught her eye.

It was a small scooter. (the kind you use to roll under cars to work on them) Without wasting anymore time she grabbed a hold of it, got a running start, and flopped down belly first on the scooter. The doors was more then half way shut, and she was still a pretty long ways away from them.

"Come on, come on, move faster..." She mumbled under her breath.

The doors were nearly closed, but with her very last of strength, she pushed herself inside of the ship with the door closing right behind her. She let out a small sigh of relief as she took in her surroundings. She couldn't see much because there were no windows, nor lights on, but she could see three smaller ships parked inside of the garage.

"So I was right. This ship does hold other ships, but whose ships? Are they all my Father's? If not, then who do they all belong to..." She whispered to herself, but was silenced when she heard the ships engine rev up, "Oh Sh-"

The ship took off, not directly into space but she could feel it zipping top speed through the air. Willow had never been on a ship in her life, so she was both scared and thrilled at the new sensation. The ship hit some turbulence after a few minutes, and she figured they must be headed into space. Willow began to get use to the bumps of the ship zooming into space, and was even enjoying herself. Then, it stopped.

"That... was... AWESOME!" Willow exclaimed, then quickly covered her mouth as she heard her words echo off the walls.

_'That's right Willow, you got to be more careful,'_ She thought to herself,_ 'but now what? Where should I go? Should I just stay here till they find me? Nah, that could take to long, but how do I approach my Dad. I mean, I never even met the guy before! Do I just walk up and say, "Hey. I'm your daughter.", or should I not tell him and see if he brings it up on his own. I don't really look much like him, but I do look like my Mom, so if he sees Mom in me, will he talk to me? Ah! This is all so confusing! And what about the other people living on the ship, if there even is any? I don't know where to begin!'_

Willow sat in thought for a while, _'Maybe I should start by finding a door.'_

She began to search around the room for a door. Since it was now even darker since she was in space, she used her hands to feel for a door on the wall. After about 10 minutes, she found what she was looking for.

"Here goes nothing!" She whispered as she opened the door to a rather strange hallway. The whole thing seemed to be spinning and it made Willow nervous to step out onto it. (You know the room I'm talking about? The one that Ed and Ein always sleep in? I can't think of a better way to describe it!) After a while, she tempted fate and stepped into the spinning room. At first she was rather dizzy, and then got used to it as she continued to walk on, though she didn't get very far as a strange person hung down in front of her out of the blue.

"HOLY..." Willow stated as she nearly fell on her butt from the surprise.

"Huh? Edward has never seen her before, have you Ein?" The person responded as "it" stared down at a small corgi that was on the floor beneath it. "It" had wild reddish orange hair and bright, inquisitive golden eyes.

"Um..." Willow gaped as she thought to herself,_ 'Is that a guy... Or a girl? I don't know, but it looks like a little kid. Holy carp that scared me. How do I respond to... Uh... It?'_

The dog barked and let out a low growl, "Ein! That's very rude! Don't be mean, she probably came to be Edward's new friend!"

Willow stared on in fascination as the dog stopped growling, and patiently sat down instead.

Willow was brought back down to earth as Edward leaned in close to her face, "What is your name?"

"Uh..." Willow stepped back some, "My name is Willow..."

"WILLY! WHEE! I'm Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky the FOURTH!" She finished and wagged four fingers in front of Willow's face.

"Nice to meet you, Edward." Willow smiled at her childish antics.

"You can call Edward Ed though, and that's Ein! My trusty stead!" Ed told, pointing to Ein. The dog barked in agreement.

"Hi Ein. Um, Ed? You wouldn't happen to know where the people who live here are, would you?"

Ed stared at Willow and made a huge smile, "You mean Faye-Faye, Spike-Spike, and Jet-Jet? You must go meet them Will-Will! Come on!"

Without time to protest, Ed swung down, grabbed Willow's arm, and dragged her through the halls toward another door. She could here a mumbled conversation going on in the other room.

"Here we are!" Ed proclaimed as she began to swing open the door.

"Ed! Wa-" Willow tried to protest.

Before she could finish, though, Ed fully swung open the door and pushed Willow inside, following her as she stumbled in. Willow found herself atop a small set of stairs. There was what seemed to be a small living area in front of her where two people jumped up from where they were sitting. There was a girl with blackish-purple hair and skimpy clothing who looked in her 20's, and a man with poofy hair who seemed to be in his 20's somewhere also. Willow let out a small gasp as she saw the man. It was the same man that was in her Mother's old picture's, it was Spike, her Father. She noticed that he was also staring at her intently, as if he had seen her before but was trying to remember from where. After a minute or so in silence, she felt something hard and metallic press against the back of her head. Willow knew without a second thought that it must have been a gun. Ed let out a small whimper noise.

"Who the hell are you," Questioned a not so friendly sounding gruff male voice, "and why the hell are you on my ship?"

Willow gulped, 'This CAN'T be good...'

* * *

NO WILLOW! DON'T DIE! Well, that's all for now. I stole the part from where she get's on the ship and on from an old CYOA I wrote awhile back. Oh, those were the days... But, anyway. HOW'D YA LIKE IT? Did it make you chuckle? Cry? Wrinkle your brow with frustration? HA HA! I'll try and get the next chapter up soon... Right after I conquer the Alantic Ocean. That's all for now, space cowboys! 


	6. A ship full of assholes

O M FLIPPIN G! I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry this took so long to update! You see this is what I figured, "Hey! Summer! Cool! Update! Woosh! I'm gonna go watch Gungrave!" So yeah, in the end, it didn't get updated for like... months. BLAME GUNGRAVE! I am gonna keep going with it though, like I said I would, beacuse even if it takes me years... I'll still update. Also, I had to re-write this damn chapter like, 8 times, because it never came out right! I still don't think it's perfect, but hell you've waited long enough... If anyone still reads this that is... 0.o 

Vicious- Yeah, you're right. She does call them Spike and Jet-Person. I dunno, in the manga she was all Spike-Spike so... Yeah.

In this chapter we have: The crew, a toliet, some guns, and... Nothing else really.

Read on chaps!

* * *

Willow felt the tip of the gun being pressed harder against her skull. She momentarily panicked and small beads of sweat began to pour down her neck. She searched deep into her head to find an answer that would save her life. Should she just go ahead and tell them that she was Spike's daughter? No, then they wouldn't believe her and throw her into jail or worse, kill her. She hoped it wouldn't have to come to that, but what else was there to say? She had been caught sneaking onto their ship, for all they know, she could be there to kill them or steal things. Willow closed her eyes tightly and continued to think.

"Well," Came the gruff voice after awhile, "are you gonna answer us or do I have to get you to explain it to the police?"

'Good,' Willow thought, 'at least they don't plan on killing me...'

"How did she even get in here? Ed, did you let her in!" The female sternly asked Ed.

Ed shook her head, "Uh-uh. Edward found her, but don't hurt her! She wants to be Edward's new friend!"

"Yeah, that's what they all say. This girl probably just snuck on this ship hoping to steal something good and then found herself in space without an escape route. Well, sorry to break it to ya kid, but were broke and it usually stays that way." The gruff voiced man informed Willow.

"Well, isn't that great! It's nice to hear your living so well, but I'm not a thief or any of those other things you called me, I came here to see him." Willow finally said, pointing strait at Spike.

Spike's face twisted from an expression that was deep in thought, to utter confusion, "Me?" He questioned, pointing at himself.

"Yeah you, Mr. Spiegel. Who the hell did you think I was pointing too?"

"Well, she sure has a mouth... Kinda reminds me of Spike." The female said with a small smirk on her face.

"Shut up will ya! I'm nothing like this snot nosed punk!" Spike screamed back at the girl.

Willow took a step forward, totally forgetting the guy with the gun, and screamed back at Spike, "What did you call me?"

"You heard me kid, or do I need to spell it out?"

Willow was completely shocked, 'This man... Is my Father? How in the hell... Wow. I thought Vicious and Julia were complete opposites but with this guy it would be like water and fire! Who does he think he is calling me those names right to my face? Can't he see Julia in me, I mean, we look so much alike. Maybe the bastard just forgot what she looked like. Dammit! Right when I escape one evil man, I run right into a jerk. I must be the unluckiest girl in the solar system.'

"Hey! Settle down you two!" The gruff voiced man stepped in. You glanced at him, now that you could see him, and noticed that he looked to be in his thirties, had a prosthetic arm, and was bald on the top of his head. He was built well, and had stern gunmetal eyes. He intimidated Willow, but at the same time she sort of felt soothed by his presence, as odd as that may seem. He felt like a uncle, or close family friend to her.

Spike threw himself back on the couch and Willow sat down directly where she was standing. Jet walked over to where the others were seated and they proceeded to stare at Willow. After about a minute, Willow decided to break the awkward silence.

"So... Um... this is the Bebop... Are you guys all bounty hunters?" She asked nervously.

"Yeah... But who are you?" The gruff-voiced man responded.

"My name is Willow..."

"Willow what?" Spike spat out, sounding disgusted.

She began to break out into a sweat again, not sure how to answer. After her little rumble with Spike, she didn't really feel like telling them the real reason she was there. Or at least she didn't feel like explaining it right now in front of everyone.

"Well?"

"Um... Uh... I don't know, and that's exactly why I came here! You see, I was an orphan all my life. I was put into an orphanage where they all called me Willow, yet I still had no last name. One day, while I was getting food for everyone, I came back to find the whole building burned down. Everyone I ever knew or loved, my family in a sense, died that day. I was completely on my own with no place to go..."

"So you decided to bum a ride with us?" Spike butted in.

"Not exactly," Willow resumed, "I was trying to think of a way I could make money one day when I was passing a store. In the store window there was a TV showing Big Shot. The bounty on it was on the small side, but he was marooned on the planet I was on and I figured if I could just get that money that I would be OK for a while. I began my hunt and stopped at nothing until I found the rogue bandit. Not to brag or anything, but I'm a pretty good fighter, and I don't want to bore you with the details so I'll cut to the chase. In no time I brought the bastard down. I called up the police, got the reward and decided that that was what I wanted to do with my life, hunt bounties. Since I'm only 14, I figured that I couldn't get it done on my own and people wouldn't take me seriously. So, I thought if I could just get to join the great Spike Spiegel and his crew then I could make it big and fulfill my dream, and that's why I'm here." Willow finished with a big smile and the crew just stared at her for a bit, 'Oh shit... They don't believe me... Now what!'

"Wow. That's the biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard... I'm almost impressed." Spike replied with a smirk.

"It's not bullshit, It's the-"

"Listen kid, save the lying crap for someone else because no one here wants to hear it," Jet interrupted her, "What we're gonna do now is lock you up, see if there's a bounty on you, and if not, ship you off to the closest planet. OK?"

"But you can't do that!" Willow retorted.

"Watch us." was all Spike responded as he walked over and grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and dragged her to a very small bathroom that was only large enough for a toilet.

"Please don't do this! I can help you, come on! Your being unreasonable!" Willow whined as they chained her hands to bars that were on either side of the toilet seat.

"Will you shut up, jeez." Jet sighed as he made sure she was securely locked in.

"Listen to me! I can help you! Even if all that other crap was lies, I'm still a good fighter! PLEASE!" Willow begged desperately.

"Listen little girl, we don't need your help. Now shut the hell up and sit here quietly while we take you to a planet and get you off our hands, all right?" Spike answered in a very annoyed, angry tone of voice, as he shut the bathroom door leaving her alone in darkness.

As Jet and Spike were leaving (Spike all the while muttering something about a certain "stupid kid") Willow immediately cursed her fate. She sat in the darkness and pondered the day's events.

'OK first off I had to see Vicious again and I nearly got gutted by him. Second, my Mother had to leave and who knows when the hell I'll see her again. Third, my best friend had to help me escape from Vicious' henchmen and help sneak me on this ship. Fourth, Yeah I got on the ship OK... too bad it's filled with ASSHOLES. Come on Mom, what's so great about that Spike guy anyway? He looks like a lazy good for nothing that sits on his ass all day in front of the TV. I guess that is better than someone who beats on you and threatens to destroy you and everyone you love everyday giving you NO freedom... Right? Damn. All this has happened and the day wasn't even over yet...'

Willow let out a long sigh and leaned farther back so that she was resting herself on the wall. After a moment, Willow smiled and laughed quietly too herself.

"Damn this is weird," She spoke to herself, "what kind of a 14 year old would get caught up in crap like this? I have to admit though, if I had to chose between this life which is full of danger and action, or one that is normal and safe... I'd have to go with this one. I'm like no other girl my age, and I like that. I'd much rather kick ass then worry about my hair and make-up all the time."

Willow stopped talking as she heard someone approach her in the hall. The footsteps were light and frantic, like someone was trying to hurriedly escape someplace awful without being noticed. In fact, a lot of people might not have even heard the footsteps, except Willow had become very good at listening when she was trapped by Vicious. The footsteps kept coming nearer and nearer, and she couldn't help but be confused. Who would walk like that? It wasn't Spike or Jet... Maybe it was the woman... Before she had any more time to dwell on it, and voice was calling out to her.

"Will-Will? Will-Will are you dead?" Came the questioning voice of Ed.

Willow smiled, "No Ed, it takes more than a two stubborn men to bring down me."

"Did'ya hear that Ein? WILLOW ISN'T DEAD!" Willow heard her exclaim with excitement.

"Ed I have to say I feel sorry for you... You live in a ship full of jerks."

"I resent that." Another voice responded, more feminine and tough then Ed's.

The door was open by the woman on the ship with the short black hair. She was leaning in the doorway of the bathroom, puffing relentlessly on a cigarette. She glared at Willow, her eyes looking over her as if she just saw her for the first time. The stares were began to bother Willow.

"Hey, you should take a picture if you think I'm that good looking."

The woman smiled and threw her cigarette at the ground, then stomped on it to put it out, "Well, well, don't you have quite the mouth."

"Thank you. It's my pride." Willow said with a sarcastic smile.

"So... Is your name really Willow or is that a lie? For that matter, are you really an orphan at all?"

"Were you sent down here to interrogate me?"

"No, I just want to know about you. You see, there's no women on this ship that I can hold a decent conversation with... You know what, there's no men I can do that with either." She said in a mock dramatic tone.

Willow smiled, "Yeah, that's my real name, but no I'm not really an orphan. What's your name?"

"Faye. Faye Valentine."

"Is that your real name?"

"To tell you the truth... Not even I know that."

This puzzled Willow, and at first she thought maybe Faye was joking around, but the expression on her face stated otherwise. Willow just shrugged it off, though.

"So, how old are you Willow?"

"14."

"Really? That's still pretty young to be away from home, but in this day and age I guess it isn't all that strange."

"It wasn't my choice to leave her..." Willow mumbled under her breath.

"Hm? What did you say?"

"Nothing."

Silence came over the girls and all that was heard was Ed's playing in the background and Ein's occasional woof. Faye stared hard at the girl, trying to read her. When Willow didn't want other people to read her, though, she made sure no one else read her.

"Your life has been tough, hasn't it?" Faye finally spoke up.

The sympathy in Faye's voice took Willlow off guard, "It's no big deal. I'm strong enough to move forward."

"I guess in your case it would be better not to remember the past..."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Hey... Why the hell are you all... nice all of a sudden?"

"Well, that sure made me feel like a good person."

"What else am I suppose to say when your damn crew mates nearly killed me?"

At this Faye smirked, "Because kid. You sort of remind me of me."

"Except I'm not a slut."

"Now you're pushing your luck."

"You called me kid. It pissed me off. It was coming sooner or later."

"Damn, no wonder your parents dumped you off, you're the meanest little shit-"

Before Faye continued, she regretted what she said. The words were a low blow to Willow, and it was apparent in her face. Though they hurt her, they had helped her also.

"Oh, sorry kid... I didn't think about what I was saying." Faye responded to the girls actions.

"No. You're right."

"Huh?"

"What would my Mom say to me if she saw me acting this way? Honestly, she'd probably be embarrassed of my behavior for the rest of my life. Maybe if I weren't such a jack ass, I'd do better and not get in as much trouble..."

"So was your Mom a stuck up, girlie girl, bitch?"

"HELL NO. Though my Mother was beautiful and graceful, she could kick some serious ass if she wanted to."

"Is that where you got your supposed "moves" from?"

"Well... Not exactly..." She trailed off as she began to think of the brutal training Vicious forced upon her all through her life. She quickly shook the thoughts away. She had a whole new path ahead of her that she wasn't going to spoil with thoughts of him.

"So you got them from your Father?"

"Well... Maybe... Mom always said I may have looked like her, but I had an attitude and fighting style just like him."

At this Faye started to lightly chuckle to herself.

"What! What the hell is so funny!" Willow retorted angrily.

"I'm sorry. It's just that you're such a little thing... It doesn't really look like you can do much harm. Hey, maybe we can use you as bait! Yeah, I'm sure pervy bounties would LOVE you!" Faye answered, laughing at her own words.

"That wasn't funny." Was all Willow responded with a sigh.

"Faye, what the hell are you doing?" boomed another voice from down the hallway.

Both you and Faye stared down the long dark hallway until a figure came into view. Pouffy hair, slightly bent over, smoke billowing up from a lit cigarette. Yup, it was Spike.

"Nothing." Faye responded, losing the laughter in her voice.

"Yeah I bet, you were gonna set the girl free!"

"No I wasn't!"

"My ass. You're helping the little brat escape!"

'If that jerk calls me a little brat one more time...' Willow thought to herself as Spike continued to speak..

"... and the damn brat-"

'There it is.'

"WILL YOU SHUT THE HELL UP? DAMN! I DIDN'T COME ON YOUR LOUSY PIECE OF SHIT SHIP TO PLUNDER IT OR STEAL YOUR CRAP! COME ON! IF I REALLY WANTED TO STEAL SOMETHING I WOULD HAVE PICKED A BETTER SHIP, NOT THIS PIECE OF ASS! You're dirt poor, NOT THAT FUCKING HARD TO TELL. If I was really to steal, WHY IN THE NAME OF SHIVA WOULD I COME HERE? ANSWER ME THAT."

Faye, Ed, Ein and Spike all stared at you with eyes as wide as saucers.

'Well," Willow thought, 'at least I got my point across.'

"What?" Willow retorted.

"You may not be here to steal," Spike advanced towards Willow, "but bumming a free ride isn't going to fly either."

Willow mentally smacked herself in the head, "Listen, what the hell can I do to prove you that I'm worthy to be on this ship?"

All was silent as Spike seemed to be thinking something over. Slowly, a smile creeped over his face. Willow stared at him in utter confusion, not quite sure what the man had up his sleeve.

"OK then," He finally spoke, "you want to be considered worthy? The next bounty we take, help us with it. I mean, your such a good fighter and all, it should be no problem... Right?"

"Uhhhhhhhhhh," Willow said, thinking over in her head whether or not it was a good idea.

"Are you sure Spike? I mean what if she tries to escape?" Faye asked Spike, she seemed just as confused as Willow was.

"She took enough time and effort to get on the damn thing, she would be an idiot to just run away from it." He added smugly.

'What an ass,' Willow thought in her head, 'but he's right. If I want to stay here, I'll have to help them... I have no other choice. This is so dumb, I've never even hunted a bounty! I can't let them know that though... I'll just play it as cool as I can.'

"All right! I decided! I'll help you with your bounty!" Willow added gallantly.

"Good. We start the hunt in 15 minutes." Spike replied calmly.

"15 MINUTES! WHAT THE HELL! THAT DOESN'T EVEN GIVE ME TIME TO PREP!" Willow exclaimed.

"Well, we're already at the planet. Are you going to try and prove yourself, or get your ass thrown off the ship?"

"But... DAMMIT!"

Spike smiled once again and began his descent back down the hallway. As he was leaving, Faye scurried off behind him complaining about, "not hearing about the job" or whatever. Willow sighed as she felt the ship begin to shake slightly, and it felt as though they may have accelerated. They were landing on a planet to get a bounty... A bounty she must help capture.

"Damn bounty hunter scum..." Willow cursed under her breath as she gripped at the handles on either side of he toilet. It wasn't long after that she heard a small voice call out to her.

"Will-Will?"

"Ed?"

There was silence... Until Ed flung the door open and hung down in front of Willow's face causing her to shriek slightly in surprise.

"GOO-OO-OOO-OOD LUUUUUCK! BRING ED BACK SOMETHIN' GOOD!" She screamed gleefully, as Ein woofed and licked at Willow's knee.

'Well,' Willow though, 'whatever the turn out may be... At least I won't be bored.'

After a while the ship was docked and Faye came back to unlock Willow. As soon as she was free, she was pulled by the wrist all around the ship until she reached the exit and for what seemed like the first time in eternity, saw the sunlight again. She stretched herself and smiled, as the sun reminded her of her Mother and of Vince.

"You won't be smiling for long kid." Spike broke through her happy thought.

"Oh really? If I have to follow you around I guess I won't be-"

Before she could finish, a gun was shoved in her hands. She stared down at it, then up at Spike who was getting farther and farther away from her.

"WAIT! HOLD UP!" She chased after him.

"What..." He mumbled, annoyed.

"I don't really know how to use a gun..."

"Well, isn't that sad. I guess you'll learn today, huh?"

"But-"

"Listen kid, it's going to be tough but don't let that stop you. Just try doing something instead of whining for once and you might actually impress me. You look strong, now all you have to do is prove it."

He began to walk away again, leaving Willow behind to ponder what he just said, 'Did he just... try to compliment me? The same man who was such an asshole just hours before? Maybe he isn't really all that bad... Maybe..."

"Are you coming or not?" Spike yelled back at Willow, who was quite a ways away.

"Oh yeah sorry!" She said and ran towards him, and the new adventure that lay ahead of her.

* * *

Beef: I am gifted with writing the corniest endings ever.  
Corn: HOW DARE YOU INSULT ME!  
Beef: Woah, BACK OFF CORN! I don't want to start it today.  
Corn: YOU ALREADY DID START IT, WENCHY SWINE BISCUIT!  
Beef: MY MUSTARD VISION WILL DEFEAT YOU!  
Corn: Oh hell no.  
Beef: Hell yes.  
Corn: Which way is Mississippi?  
Beef: That way.  
Corn: Thanks.  
Beef: Anytime.

Why the hell is there bars around a bathroom toilet? In case you might fall in, or to grip when you want to call the Justice friends? The world may never know...


	7. Neverending Dream

Beef: WELL HOT DAMN! It's been about a year since I updated this, I know. And I am REALLY, REALLY, SORRY! But hey, I kept my promise and updated, didn't I? I have to give it up to the Real Folk Blues pt. 1 and 2, however. They really inspired me to start up with this story again. I was sitting there, watching them, thinking about where Willow would fit in with all of it, and it really inspired me. So, here I am! I promise, PROMISE, that it will never take that long to update this story again! Thank you to all my reviewers (even the bitchy ones). You guys kick ass! You keep me writing. 

WITHOUT FURTHER ADIEU, What to expect in this chapter: Ass kicking, sleepiness, confusion, and a fat guy. And a dream. With children in it. Yup.

READ ON!

It had been a while since Willow had started following Spike, and all the events of the day seemed to pile up on her, making her tired and slow. She sighed, as she trudged forward, cursing her luck. In one day she had beaten up street punks, faced Vicious, said bye to her Mother and friend, went on the Bebop, met Spike and the rest of the crew, and was now headed to get her first bounty. She knew she would have been terribly nervous if she wasn't exhausted out of her mind. All she could think to do was sit down someplace and take a small nap...

"Hey, keep up." Spike called over his shoulder to the lagging girl.

"Sorry!" Willow snapped, trotting up beside him.

"You look... tired." Spike said, looking down at the girl's tired form.

"Yeah. I kinda had a busy day." Willow sighed.

"Really? Well, wake up. Though this bounty isn't a real big one, it will require some work."

Willow groaned and rolled her eyes, causing Spike to smile slightly. Though she couldn't really put her finger on it, for some reason she felt safe with Spike. It was awkward, and she still thought he was a jerk, but she also felt she could let down her guard a little. A thought then creeped back into Willow's head. Should she tell him about his relationship with her? It seemed like the perfect opportunity. She was alone with Spike, she had all of his attention, should she finally tell him that he was her father?

"Hey... Um, Spike?" Willow questioned uneasily.

"What is it?" He responded, lighting up a cigarette from his never ending pack.

"Well... I... Never mind." She finished with a sigh of defeat. She figured it was better to hold it off until she knew more about him. Besides, she was to tired to go into detail. She had to save the remaining strength she had for the bounty.

"If you start something you should finish it."

"I'm too tired to finish it."

"Well, that's to bad for you, because here we are."

Willow lifted her head to see a very scuzzy looking run down bar. An instant frown was plastered on her face as she stared at the barely legible words spelling out, THE CELLAR.

"Oh, what an original name!" She stated sarcastically leaning all of her weight against the wall of the bar.

"Now listen, it was confirmed a few hours ago that our target was in here-" Spike began to explain.

"A FEW HOURS AGO! Wouldn't he be long gone by now?" Willow butted in with her final burst of energy.

"WILL YOU SHUT UP! DAMN," Spike yelled, getting an instant response out of Willow, "Now listen kid, we have to be quiet and not raise too many suspicions, that's why you have to be my eyes from out here. I'm going to head in, if I see our target, I'll tell you through this."

With that, he roughly chucked a walkie-talkie in her direction. She caught it in her arms and stared down at it dumbfounded. It wasn't as much that the device confused her, it was just the whole situation she thought was weird. She was half-dead after a day of battling Vicious and running away to a new home where her real father awaited her. Now she's with him, on some weird as hell bounty chase, he has NO idea who she is, and not only is she tried... She was hungry, also.

"Why do you have such a stupid expression on your face?" Spike asked as he prepared to enter the broken down building.

"It's always like this." She snarled back sarcastically.

"That's what I thought, but I wanted to be a gentlemen and not say anything about it."

"How kind of you. Hey listen, how long do you think this will take?"

"I don't know. Anywhere from a minute to a few hours."

"Great. Just what I like to hear."

"Don't complain, just get it over with."

"Can't we do this tomorrow? I'm about to fall over any second here..."

"Yeah, and let the bounty get away? Keep dreaming, girlie."

So without a second word, Spike entered the building leaving Willow very much confused. With a small sigh of defeat, she leaned her back against the decrepit building and trailed down it's side until she was fully sitting on the ground. She wrapped her arms tightly around her knee's and glared hard at the walkie-talkie. She had a huge urge to chuck the thing, but decided against it. She didn't want to anger Spike, all she really wanted was a warm bed to sleep in, and this bounty was that ticket.

Bounty hunter... How strange. The thought that Spike was once a member of the syndicate baffled Willow. The fact that Vicious and him were once friends baffled her even more. They were nothing alike, almost complete opposites. Then again, Julia did say Vicious used to be a lot different, maybe at one time he was actually nice? Willow smiled softly, she could never picture such a cruel man being nice. Maybe, just maybe, there was another side to him, though. No one was born evil, something had to make them that way, but what could possibly scar Vicious so bad that he became the way he was? Actually, when she thought about it, she knew so little about his past, but it was to late now. She never ever wanted to see him again.

A light breeze swept the air, a warm breeze, carrying the scent of... Springtime? Willow quickly looked up and around at her surroundings, and she found she was no longer on that dank street corner in the middle of who knows where. She found herself in a huge field. It stretched farther than she could ever hope to see, with grasses of all different sizes swayed in the breeze. The sky was a bright, almost fluorescent blue shade, with a few stray puffy clouds lying around lazily in it, like loungers in a pool. The sun beat down on her face as she whispered quietly to herself, "What is this place? I must be dreaming..."

Willow let out a deep sigh, as she moved her arm over her eyes to block out the facade of happiness. All at once a million thoughts and questions seeped into her mind. 'Is Mom safe? Is she dead? Will Vicious come after me? Will he find me? Is Vince safe? Am I safe? Will Spike ever figure out who I am? Will he love me, or reject me? Am I cut out to be a bounty hunter? Where am I?'

"Come on Willow, we didn't come here to just stand around! I thought you wanted to play?"

'A voice?' Willow snapped to attention. Looking up, she gasped at what she saw, "... Vince?"

In front of her stood a child version of her best friend. He looked exactly the same, except way shorter and more cherubic. He smiled at her, and reached out a small pudgy hand. His cheeks were a light pink shade, and his T-shirt hung loosely over his tiny shoulders.

"Come on! I want to show you somethin' Willow!"

She stood up, dazed. How was this possible? Her best friend... Had somehow transgressed back into a child? He was always a little childish, but this was ridiculous, "Wait... Vince, where am I? Why are you so... little?"

Vince gave her an odd look, "What are you talking about? I'm the same size as you!"

"What?" Willow looked down upon herself and gasped. Vince was right, she was the exact same height as he was. She was a little girl again, clothes and all. A small yellow sun dress hung limply off her body, and her tiny feet were adorned with plain white sandals. She stared in amazement at her transformed body. Now she knew that she had to be dreaming.

"Come on, Willow! Everyone is waiting for you!" Vince exclaimed as he wrapped his tiny hand around hers and began to pull her helplessly through the neverending field.

"Everyone... What do you mean everyone!" A flabbergasted Willow rang out to her friend, trying to keep up with his hectic pace.

Vince giggled, "I mean all of your friends, dummy!"

Willow stared at him questioningly as she thought to herself, 'Friends? What friends? The only friend I ever really had is Vince... What's going on?' She grew increasingly puzzled and nervous as the boy dragged her on.

After a few more moments of seemingly aimless walking, Vince halted on a small hill, causing Willow to halt as well, a few steps behind her shrunken friend. Just as Willow was about to question her whereabouts, Vince turned towards her with a huge smile that engulfed her whole face. He took his small index finger and pointed down towards the bottom of the hill.

"See? Friends," He laughed as he began to gallop down the small incline, "Everyone! Look! Willow's here! Willow finally came to play with us!"

Willow walked farther up the hill, until she got a clear view of the children below. There stood about ten of them, all looking to be her age. They were all different nationalities and colors, but when they all looked up and saw her, they all cheered. They smiled and laughed, beginning to clap at her arrival. She stared in awe at all these unfamiliar children. She couldn't fathom why people she hadn't ever seen before would be so excited to see her. Yet even so, their eyes shimmered with happiness. It was almost as if close friends had been reunited after many years apart. Even though she found it odd, for some reason, these kids happiness to see her filled her with a warmth she had never yet experienced.

"Come on Willow! Come and play!" Vince yelled to her friend, as the other's began to urge her to come as well.

"Oh, OK." Willow responded nervously, as she proceeded to stumble her way down the hill.

As soon as she had reached the bottom, the small mob of children proceeded towards her. A little girl, looking to be about Willow's height, ran up and hugged her tightly around the waste. She had dark chocolate skin, with pitch black eyes to match. Her long raven hair danced around the two of them as she giggled happily.

"We missed you so much, Willow!" She smiled brightly up at the baffled girl.

"Yeah," another little boy added in, "we've waited forever for you to come and play!"

"B-but... I don't know you... I don't know any of you! You must have me confused with someone else..." Willow frowned at the group, feeling bad for getting them all excited for no reason.

"Ha ha ha," Vince's small laugh came from somewhere within the group of children, "You really are something, Willow!"

"What are you talking about?" Willow retorted.

Vince laughed a little more, and then pushed his way through the crowd until he was face to face with her, "These are your friends, Willow. You've known them all your life. They are your love, your heart. This is what you've always wanted, isn't it? To be a normal child, with a group of friends that care for you? That's what we're giving you right now. A second chance at your childhood that was taken away from you. So stop sweating the small stuff, and come play with us! We've all been waiting for you!"

Willow stood for a moment analyzing all that Vince said, 'He's right. This is all I ever wanted. Everytime I would see a group of children playing together on a playground, I would envy them terribly. I know this must all be some sort of dream, but at least for now, I'm going to let myself escape. I'm going to have fun.'

A smile soon spreed over Willow's face, as she ran full force towards the other children. Laughter resounded through out the field, as Willow completely let go of herself. She didn't think about her situation, the Bebop, Spike, or even her mother. At that moment, she was just a kid like everyone else, playing happily with her friends.

After a while of running around, the children all began to grab partners, and spin each other around. Willow glanced around to see who was left for her to spin with, when she felt someone tap her shoulder from behind. As she whipped her body around she saw the beaming face of Vince, holding out his hands for her to take. She smiled back at her friend, and grasped his hands tightly. They began to spin, first slowly, and then they began to gain momentum. They were both giggling as they began to whirl at their top speed. Everything around them had become a colored blur, except for each other. Willow stared for a moment at her friends pleased face, and then decided to talk.

"I never want this to end!" She exclaimed happily to the spinning boy.

"What?" He called back, not being able to clearly hear her above all the laughing children.

"I said, I NEVER WANT THIS TO END!" Willow called back in a louder, but not harsher, tone.

Vince chuckled, "Neither do I, Willow. I want to stay here with you forever!"

Willow blushed slightly at his comment, and was about to respond to his kind words, when a sharp and agonizing pain shot through her leg.

"OW!" Willow screamed as her eyes shot open. At first she was confused as to what was going on, but as she glanced around for a few moments it all came back to her. Vicious' visit, running away, finding the Bebop, meeting Spike, and going to chase after a bounty. It turned out the sunny field with all the happy children was a dream after all. Willow frowned deeply at that thought, wishing that somehow, it could have all been real.

"Watch where the hell you're going you little bitch!"

Willow groggily stared up at the man who had verbally assaulted her. She was still half asleep, and unable to distinguish many details, but she could tell he was a fairly big man, with a beard and a gut. He was with another guy, skinnier and more wimpy looking.

"Excuse me?" She asked, as she began to pull herself up off the ground.

"You heard him, kid," The scrawny guy spoke up, "Your dumb ass was in our way, and because of you, the boss man almost tripped and cut himself!"

"Tripped and cut himself," Willow snorted, "Oh, I'm sorry I almost just blemished your baby soft skin! Why the hell didn't you watch where you were going if it was the big of a deal?"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!" The "boss man" bellowed out of rage.

"You heard me, jerk." Willow replied with a yawn.

"GRRRR, THAT'S IT! YOUR GONNA DIE FOR THAT COMMENT, YOU LITTLE BRAT!" The big man once again bellowed, this time pulling out a gun as well and pointing it at Willow.

Willow sighed, as she lazily stumbled over to the gun man, "Listen, you stupid fat bastard. I was sleeping, and having a very nice dream mind you, so I had no way of seeing you, regardless of how big you are. So along you come, stepping on my leg and nearly crushing it under your immense weight. Forget about getting a cut, you almost broke my damn leg! So here, if you really want something to cry about, I'll give it to you!"

On that last comment, Willow took her elbow, and jabbed it into the man's chest as hard as she could. Though this hurt the man, making him double over, he still had the gun firmly in his hand. So as quickly as she could, she grabbed hold of the arm the held the gun, twisting it as hard as she could behind his back. As she heard a small crack noise, and heard the man scream in pain, she knew she had dislocated his arm successfully. Letting go of his arm, and letting it fall limp, she went around the front of him and grabbed his face in her hands. Once she was looking strait in his eyes, she spoke in the coldest tone she could muster.

"You've picked the wrong day to fuck with me, buddy."

As she finished her words, she kicked him as hard as she could in the crotch. This made him fall to his knee's, but before his knee's could hit the ground, his face hit Willow's raised knee forcefully, knocking him out cold. As willow watched his unconscious form fall limply to the ground she smirked. It surprised her that she still had enough energy in her to knock someone out.

"Y-y-you're... YOU'RE A MONSTER!" Came the voice of the scrawny man behind her. She turned around and sighed deeply.

"Man, I completely forgot about you! Dammit, I just want to sleep," She groaned, "Here, I'll give you an option. You can either run away and go about with your life, pretending this never happened, or I could kick your ass. I gotta warn you though, that was just warm up. I'll go WAY harder on you."

"Stay away... STAY AWAY FROM ME!" The scrawny man screamed as he stood up and fled away from the girl.

"Good. It worked," She smiled tiredly as her gaze once again returned to the unconscious thug, "Now what should I do with you..."

She didn't get much further in thought as she soon heard a very angry voice call out to her through the darkness, "DAMMIT KID! I HAND YOU A WALKIE TALKIE, BUT IT'S NOT GOING TO BE OF ANY USE TO YOU IF YOU DON'T TURN THE DAMN THING ON!"

Willow looked up to see a very pissed Spike making his way towards her. Once he had reached her, the verbal assault continued, "YOU ARE THE BIGGEST DUMBASS I'VE EVER WORKED WITH! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING! THE BOUNTY CAME RIGHT BY YOU, BUT YOU WOULDN'T HAVE CAUGHT THEM BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THEY LOOKED LIKE BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T TURN ON YOUR DAMN COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE! SHIT! NOW THAT FATTIES OUT SOMEWHERE, PERFECTLY HAPPY, AND WE HAVE TO CONTINUE TO STARVE!"

"Fatty? You mean like that?" Willow replied groggily as she pointed a finger down at her victim. She was too tired to get in a fight with Spike, and too tired to even care what she said.

Spike glanced down to where she pointed, "YEAH, EXACTLY LIKE THAT YOU LITTLE SHIT!... Wait a minute..." Spike leaned down, and turned the man over to expect his face. Though it was covered in blood from where Willow hit him, you could still tell who it was. Spike reached into the man's pocket, and fished out the man's wallet. Taking out his ID, he looked at it with an incredulous look and smirked, "Well I'll be damned..."

"What?" Willow mumbled, confused once again by what was going on around her.

"Did you... Did you do this?" Spike looked up at the girl, confusion playing on his features.

"Yeah..."

"By yourself?"

"Yes..."

"All by yourself... With no help?"

"YES!"

Spike looked from Willow, to the fallen man, back to Willow and smirked, "I guess I underestimated you, kid."

"What the hell are you talking about?" She mumbled in reply.

"You just single handedly took down the bounty head. It's pretty hard to imagine a girl like you inflicting damage like this, but I doubt that someone would beat up a bounty this big and just leave him behind..."

"Big? I though you said it was a small bounty?"

"Oh, I was lying. I didn't want to scare you, and I figured if I played him out as a wimpy little bounty you'd fight better."

Willow glared at him and sighed, "You don't make much sense, do you?"

Spike smirked, "What can I say? Well kid, forget what I said earlier. You get the job done well, even if you are a little stupid."

"HEY!"

Spike laughed, "All we have to do now is wait for the ISSP to come and pick him up. They don't always do that, but since we are fairly close to their station, all I have to do is tell Jet to send them and they'll take care of this guy and give us the money."

"Hey... Spike?" Willow tentatively asked.

"What?"

"Am I worthy of being on your ship now?"

Spike looked at her tired form, and after a few moment's sighed deeply and responded, "I guess so."

A small smile crept on Willow's face, "That's good..." She managed to whisper out, as she fell forward on to Spike in a deep slumber.

"What the? Hey, kid! Wake up! Oh come on!" Spike whined as he grabbed the girl in his arms, and turned her around so that he could get a clear view of her face. Silence fell around the two of them as he stared at her face. Spike's body began to tense slightly, and he felt a cold sweat form on the back of his neck. The longer he stared at the girl residing in his arms, the more he was haunted by his past. He took his hand, and gently swept the golden locks out of Willow's peaceful face. His hand rested on her cheek, as he whispered a name he had not said in a long time.

"Julia..."

A bittersweet feeling swept over him. Why... Why did this girl look so much like Julia? Who exactly was she? Where did she come from? How did she find and know about him?

"Who are you? Really?" Spike whispered to the slumbering girl.

"Sir, are you the bounty hunter that caught this man?"

The voice took Spike off guard, and looking up he saw several ISSP man surrounding the area, "Um... Yeah, that's me."

"A man named Jet Black informed us that a certain Spike Spiegel had caught a bounty in this area... Are you that Spike Spiegel?"

"Yeah. That's me."

The ISSP man walked over to fallen man, and after a moment of inspecting him, he nodded.

"Yup, this is definitely the guy. I can tell you didn't go easy on him. Nice work, you can pick up the money at our main office any time, it will be there waiting for you."

Spike picked Willow up in his arms so that he was holding her bridal style, and began to walk away from the scene, "Thanks. I'll come get the money later. Right now, I need to deliver sleeping beauty here to a bed. Later."

As Spike was walking away, he heard the ISSP men questioning why he brought such "a young and delicate girl" to such a rough part of town. Spike sighed deeply, as he stared down once again at the sleeping girls face.

"I don't know what the future holds for you on the Bebop... But I'll be damned if I let you get away now, without even figuring out the mystery of why you look so much like her," A smirk spread across Spike's face slowly, "Oh well. At least this won't be boring..."

Beef: So... How was it? I hope you all liked it. Look for the next chapter a lot sooner than it took to put this one up (I hope. 0.o)!


	8. Welcome to the Crew

A/N: WHAT? I'm actually UPDATING? No way! What's it been, a year and a half? Well, here goes. Thanks to anyone who still reads this, you're all dolls. And give it up to Princesa de la Luna who kept bugging me to the point of updating. . She deserves applause.

What to expect in this chapter: Disputes, space, discussions, fights, food, and everyone's favorite couch. Read on! Even review, if you like!

Oh, and by the way, I don't own Cowboy Bebop. I know that's a big shock to the system, but it's true. I do own Willow, though. That little wench is mine. Evil cackle

"Stop it..."

Willow mumbled grumpily as she felt a cold, wet, fleshy item stroking itself along her face. She tried feebly to bat it away, but whatever it was that was bothering her just wouldn't give up. She growled slightly, and opened her eyes lazily to see what was giving her so much trouble. Upon looking, however, she was taken off guard to see the huge snout of a dog only about 1 inch from her own. She shrieked at the sight, and immediately bolted upright from shock. Both Ein and Ed found your response quite amusing, and Ed started to giggle happily.

"You've been asleep a long time, Will-Will! We thought you died!" Ed beamed, causing Ein to bark in response.

"Oh... Ed," Willow yawned lazily, "it's you... Don't do that, OK? You scared the crap out of me..."

"Crapsie doodle!" Ed sang out with glee, causing Willow to glance at her awkwardly.

"Right... Say Ed, where are we?" Willow asked, looking from side to side. She knew she was on the Bebop, but other than that, she had no clue where she was.

"Outer Space."

"Oh... OK. Where in outer space?"

"The deep recesses of it!"

"... Great. Thanks for the wonderful visual, Ed."

Ed giggled happily, and Willow couldn't help but smile. There was just something about this odd little girl that made her feel at ease amongst the rest of the crew members. She had little time to dwell on this though, as she heard the sound of footsteps coming to her ears, and looking up to where the sound came from, she saw it was the man they called Jet who had entered.

"Hey kid, you're awake," He stated, stopping a few feet from where she sat. He gave her a once over before asking, "You OK? You were pretty used up a few days ago..."

"Well, that's one way of putting it," Willow sighed, remembering the fatigue and pain of yesterday, "But what do you mean by a few days ago? Are you really so senile as to forget what day it is?"

Jet scowled, "I am NOT senile!"

"Sure you aren't" Willow teased, playfully, "You just can't remember what day it is. We all have those moments. Especially when we get old."

Jet growled, "Here, why don't I give you a run down on all that has happened to shed some light on the situation for you, OK? You came on this ship, ILLEGALLY might I add, about three days ago. That night, you went out hunting with Spike pretty late into the night and by the time you both came back it was about 3 in the morning. You were fast asleep in his arms by the time you came back. You were completely unresponsive, I was almost afraid you were dead. But you stayed in dream land for quite a while after that..."

"Are you serious," Willow gawked in disbelief, "I can't believe I slept that long! That's like, inhumanly normal... Oh well, I guess your not as senile as I though, old man."

Jet growled, "Now you listen here, young lady! I don't care how kick ass of a bounty hunter you are, if you don't show a little respect, I'm gonna throw you off this ship!"

Willow smirked, "Right into space?"

"Hell yes!" Jet responded, turning his back to the girl in almost a child like manor.

"With no suit or anything to protect me from the foreign and harsh tundra?" Willow prodded on.

"Yes! You'd be out there alone!"

"Well, that's pretty damn mean! I don't even think Vicio-," Jet turned to look at Willow oddly, but she quickly caught herself from saying his name, "Oh, never mind. Listen, all joking aside, thank you very much for letting me stay here. I was just playing around before, I'll try my best to be more respectful, OK?"

Jet looked at her for a bit, analyzing to see is she was being genuinely truthful. After a while he smiled at her. He walked over to a chair that was placed directly across from the couch in which she sat. He sat down, placing his elbows on his knee's, folding his hands and resting his chin on them. His fixed eyes stared fixedly at her, and she was almost beginning to feel uncomfortable.

"Um...," Willow spoke softly, "what are you looking at, exactly?"

"It's funny, you know..." Jet's spoke in a dazed like state.

"What is?" Willow asked, confused by this man's behavior.

"It's Spike, he-" Just stopped, sighing and thinking of what to say next, "He acted weird when he brought you back..."

"What do you mean, weird?" Willow questioned, trying to shake off the nervousness she felt inside her.

Jet looked at the girl for a moment without speaking. Then, he leaned back against his chair, draping his arms over the back of it and tilted his head up to stare at the ceiling, "He'd be really pissed if I told you this, but I guess you have a right to know..."

Willow's face contorted into a look of annoyance, "Right to know what! Come on, all this cryptic crap is killing me!"

Jet chuckled at her, "OK, OK, I'll tell you. Well, along time ago Spike used to know this woman. He was in love with her, but the situation was rough, so he had to leave her. But you... You look remarkably like her. I've only seen one picture of her that Spike showed me when we first met, but I remember that picture as clear as day, and you look just like her."

Willow gulped, trying to keep to remain 'clueless' to what woman he was talking about as well as stay calm, "So? I look like a girl he used to date. Big deal."

"It's not just that," Jet continued, "when Spike came back to the ship with you in his arms, I was the one to first greet him. I asked him how the job went, if you were OK, and if he got the cash for the bounty yet. But he just walked past me like I wasn't even there. His eyes were glazed over, and his expression seemed like he was in a completely different world. I followed him into the ship and asked what was wrong, because at first I was afraid you were wounded or something, but that's when it got kinda weird. He turned around, and that's the first real good look I got at you. I noticed you were fine, so I looked to Spike's eyes..."

'Please don't stop there,' Willow's heart pounded in her chest, 'does Spike really know I'm Julia's daughter?'

"I once again asked if he was OK," Jet continued, "and that finally seemed to wake him from his daze. He looked down at you in his arms, and then back to me. He smiled and made a comment like, 'You know, it's scary how much she looks like Julia, (which is the name of his old fling) but at the same time they could never be related. This ones to much like a man to have come from a woman like Julia.'"

"WHAT," Willow screamed, all the excitement that Spike might actually say something touching leaving her body, "'TO MUCH LIKE A MAN'? WHAT THE HELL! THAT JERK! I'M GONNA KICK HIS ASS, THEN HE WILL WISH I WAS A MAN BECAUSE THAT SOUNDS A HELL OF A LOT BETTER THAN A 14 YEAR OLD GIRL MAKING YOU BLEED! THE NERVE!"

Jet began to laugh, "Don't take it to heart. Spike was never really smooth in the area of children or women. He's usually blunt like that, just ask Faye."

"Ask Faye what?" Came a feminine voice from behind her, She turned around and saw Faye standing before her. The women looked from Jet, to Willow, and then smiled.

"Hey, you're awake-" She began, but didn't have time to finish as Willow butted in.

"Has Spike ever called you manly?"

Faye looked at Willow with deep confusion, "Excuse me?"

"You heard," Willow continued, still slightly angry, "has Mr. Spiegel ever called you manly?"

Faye put her hands on her hips and stared at Willow incredulously, "Willow, seriously. Look at me. Do you think he's ever called me manly?"

Willow sighed in defeat and turned back around to face Jet, "Never mind, then."

Faye walked up beside her, and took a seat next to her on the couch, "But if you're asking if he's ever been an ass to me, the answer is more times than I can count."

"I'm only an ass to those who deserve it, Faye."

Everyone in the room turned to see Spike standing in the doorway, leaning against it's frame, lighting up a cigarette. He was dressed in her normal attire, and after taking a long drag of the stick, he exhaled, and entered into the room. He sauntered over to Jet, and sat down next to him, opposite Willow and Faye. He stared at Willow lazily, and leaned back.

"So, you're finally awake," He spoke to the girl, a small grin forming on his face, "I was getting sick of you taking up the couch."

"Gee, thanks," Willow snorted back, averting her gaze from Spike, "That's all the thanks I get for catching YOUR bounty? You're just a real dandy guy, aren't you?"

Spike laughed, "Please, that bounty couldn't have been that great if someone like you took him down so quickly. He was probably just not giving it his all, and therefore was overcome by the skills you do possess."

"Are you saying I'm not strong?"

Before Spike could respond, Faye butted in, "What he means to say is don't let it go to your head. That guy was intoxicated, and though he was strong, the alcohol clouded his strength. You took him down with no problem, but what about the next guy? What if he's stronger, or bigger? You won't always get away as easily as you did."

"You know, she's right," Jet added in, "we meet some rough people in this job, Willow. I don't know where exactly you come from, but you obviously picked up your skills someplace. Those skills will come in good use for this job, regardless of what you used them for before hand..."

"Say, that's actually a pretty good question," Faye spoke up again, "Willow, where exactly did you get these skills from, and why? Is fighting a weird hobby for you or something? You never really actually told me..."

"Yeah, and if you're going to be on this ship you can't hide things from us. We don't want a little fugitive bumming around with us. Bounty hunters aren't looked at highly, as is." Spike stated.

"Yes, if you would be so kind to tell us who exactly you are, we'll be able to trust you better." Jet spoke, crossing his arms across his chest as he stared at the girl.

"The mystery of Miss Will-Will will be revealed!" Ed giggled happily, throwing up her arms in excitement.

Willow stared down at her lap and thought to herself, 'What do I do? I don't really want to spill my secret to all of them! And with the way Spike has been acting, I don't really want to spill it to him, yet, either. On another note, they do have a right to know because I am technically living under their care (if that's what you want to call it). GAH! This is such a pain! OK, well I guess I can tell them enough to keep them satisfied, but not tell them everything. Yeah, that sounds good...'

Willow took a deep breathe, "OK, I'll tell you, but," Willow was then cut off by her own stomach, which growled very loudly from the absence of food over three days of sleep, "first can I get some food?" Willow blushed.

Jet smiled, "Sure, eat all you want. Besides we were only able to get food with the money you earned from the bounty. You just hold on while I go get you something."

After a few minutes, Jet came back with a whole tray of food for Willow. Willow smiled happily, as she began to gorge on the food, giving into her stomachs complaints. Faye, Jet, Spike, Ed, and Ein just stared in awe as she continued to swallow large forkful after large forkful, not even stopping to breathe. In no time at all, she was done.

Willow let out a gasp of happiness, "Thank you so much! That was surprisingly good!"

"No... Problem..." Jet replied, still in a slight disarray.

"Damn, girl," Faye snorted, "You don't mess around when it comes to anything, do you?"

Willow slightly blushed and smiled, "I guess not..."

Spike scowled, "If this girl eats that much all the time then she'll eat us out of house and home! Not only that, but she'll grow so damn big we won't have room for her anymore."

"SHUT UP, SPIKE! I'M A GROWING GIRL, AND I HAVEN'T EATEN IN THREE DAYS SO CUT ME SOME DAMN SLACK!" Willow screamed, her moment of continents ruined, once again, by Spike.

"Listen, I think we need to get back on track," Jet spoke up, stopping the fight that was more than likely about to take place, "Willow, please tell us about yourself."

"Fine, I will," Willow stated as-a-matter-of-factly, "I'll tell you all you need to know, but in return, I want to start receiving a little more respect from a certain individual." She finished, by staring straight into Spike's eyes.

Spike smiled, "That all depends on your story, Princess. Now get on with it!" Although Spike wouldn't show it, he was rather eager to hear what Willow had to say.

Willow again breathed in deeply, and began to tell her tale, "Fine, here goes. I escaped here after my mother and I were attacked by my...," Willow paused in order to think of what to call Vicious, "Step Father. He was very much abusive, and has been my whole life. I've lived my life in rough combat that would be enough to make a hardened war veteran cry. I practiced night and day with him, each time taking me to the point of breaking. Somehow, I made it through, and my mother and I escaped to an apartment on the other side of town. We lived there happily, for a while at least. I should have known that he would find us, but somewhere inside of me I just didn't want to. I was finally having fun, making friends, and being a normal kid for once in my life. And he ruined it all, just like he's ruined everything else..."

By this point, despite all her best efforts, tears were streaming down her face. She shut her eyes tightly and tilted her head down, in order to help hide her tears and to try and stop the flow. Her body shuttered lightly as she gasped for air. She had no idea telling these people about her life would be so difficult, but she also felt somewhat relieved. She was finally beginning to open up, and maybe the people on the ship will have a better view of her once they know about her background.

Faye lightly touched the girls shoulder, "Listen, if it's to hard you really don't have to go on. We believe you, OK?"

Willow wiped her eyes, "No, it's OK. I want to go on," Faye nodded, and removed her hand. Willow sighed, took a moment to collect herself, and continued, "Anyway, he came back and once again attacked us. But, with the help of a dear friend of mine, my mother and I escaped. She told me to go on ahead, and that she would deal with my step father, so I had no choice but to follow her orders and escape-"

"To this ship? It's kind of weird that she specified this ship? Who is this woman?" Spike butted in, a slight tone of suspicion in his voice.

"She didn't specify this ship," Willow lied, still wanting to keep her identity a secret, "She just told me to go as far as I could with my friend. In fact, when we reached this dock, it was his idea for me to climb aboard one of the ships. Space is one of the farthest places I can be from my stepfather, you know?" Willow finished as nonchalantly as she could.

"But why did you choose this ship out of all the ones in the dock?" Jet asked.

Willow smiled, "Because I figured that rich people would have all kinds of security on their ships, and this one looked like such a junk heap that I figured a whole bunch of hobo's lived on it, and no one would really noticed if one more joined them."

"Yeah, but we did notice you." Spike added.

"No, Ed noticed me," Willow replied, "If she hadn't butted in and told everyone that I was here, I could have completely sabotaged your ship and you wouldn't even notice until it was too late."

"Yeah right," Spike snorted, "the only thing you're going to sabotage is my sanity. Living with another damn know-it-all woman is going to be the death of me."

"Good! No one will miss you!" Willow replied, her voice raising slightly.

"Hey now, everyone just calm down," Jet intervened, causing Willow and Spike to stare in opposite directions. Jet sighed, and continued, "Well, I'm glad you finally told us the truth, Willow. Your story is believable, and I don't think you'll cause any harm here other than maybe give Spike an enteral migraine. I suppose you can stay if you keep doing as well as you did on yesterday's bounty and if you show respect where it is due."

"I'll show respect as long as I get it." Willow replied, still not so much as even glancing at Spike.

"Fair enough," Jet commented, and got on his feet, "Well then, now that that's settled, I guess I ought to show you around the place. Come on, I'll give you a tour of the Bebop. Follow me."

With that, Jet began his departure down a small hallway. Ed and Ein scuttled off after him, and Faye left with a wave, traveling in her own direction. Willow herself began to rise, and when she was on her feet she began to follow after Jet, leaving Spike to himself. As she was just about out of the room, however, Spike's voice called out to her.

"Hey, Willow!" He called, garnering her attention.

"Yes," Willow replied, happy that Spike actually called her her name and not just 'kid'.

"Hey listen, you wouldn't happen to know..." Spike's voice trailed off for a little bit, seemingly in thought, after a few seconds he continued, "What is your mother's name, I mean."

Willow smirked, "Why do you care? Are you looking for some-"

"Just tell me, all right!"

The sharpness in his reply took Willow off guard, "It's... Cassandra," She lied to the man, "She has short brown hair, and-"

Spike sighed, "All right, that's enough. I don't need to know anymore."

Willow sighed to herself, and turned away from Spike again, 'Oh well,' She thought to herself, 'at least he's suspicious about why I look so much like Julia. I wonder how long it will take him to come to terms that I'm her daughter...' Willow began to walk her way down the hall, but she was no more than two steps in when Spike halted her, again.

"Willow, hold up," He called to the fleeting girl.

Willow sighed in annoyance and flipped around to face him, "What? Why do you keep stopping me?"

Spike looked at her smugly from where he sat. He rose to his feet slowly, taking out another cigarette as he did so. When he was standing fully, he took out his light, and held it at the tip of the stick. As it slowly began to burn, he took the light away, and inhaled deeply. As he exhaled, a light gray smoke filled the air surrounding his face. The smoke was not enough to hide his grin, however, as he spoke words Willow thought she'd never hear him say.

"Welcome to the crew."

With that, he left the room in the same lazy manner he had when he stood up. Willow just stared at his back, slightly in shock. A small smile crept to her face as she realized the words he had just said. Not only was she now a part of the crew, her own father was the one to officially call her a member. For some reason, that made her really happy. Her smile grew larger as she pivoted around again, and began to trot after Jet. Willow finally had the opportunities she had been waiting for. Opportunities for adventure, and to meet new people. Opportunities to help save her mom, and rid herself of the syndicate once for all. But the opportunity that made her most excited, was her chance to finally have a real family.

So, how did you like it? I hope it pleased you. See you in 2008, when I decide to update this again! (I hope that's a joke. Really, I do...) 


	9. Creep

Beef: Wow, it's been like two years. Let me start off by saying how extremely sorry I am for anyone still reading this. I know I suck major at updating, and I really do apologize. But know that I don't plan on giving up on this story, so I hope anyone that is still a fan doesn't either! I have a lot of good stuff planned for the future of Willow, including a huge character development for her. Also, there might be a few time skips here and there. There will def be some action and epic going on, so please, keep reading! I'll try my hardest to keep cranking chapters out!

And also, kudos for Princess De Luna for gracing me with the most random review I've ever gotten in my life. It really made my day. :) To answer her questions, no, I've never seen Terminator. I have, however, listened to the audio book edition. Does that count? And I've seen Loki and read Vampire Knight, but not that much of either. I've heard of the other one, but have no clue what it's about. Mayb's I'll check them fics out for ya...

What to expect in this chapter!: Vents, Ed creepin', Willow creepin', voyeurism, Spike being slightly emo, and Bebop crew secrets (gasp)!

I don't own Cowboy Bebop.

And P.S., Ed is hard to write about. Sorry if she seems weird (ha, Ed seeming weird, go figure). I really tried to keep her in character!

Enjoy!

Agents are, GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

"...And that's the whole ship!" Jet concluded, hands resting on his hips. He and Willow stood back in the room the tour started in. The "living room" area.

"Huh, and it only took abut 30 minutes," Willow added, glancing at a lop sided clock that hung on the wall.

"Do you think you can manage on your own, now? It's not that big of a ship, so I think you'll be OK."

"Yeah, I think I'll be OK. I've had to navigate around creepier and bigger places than this plenty of time... But, which room should I stay in? You all seem very attached to that couch, I wouldn't want to take such joy out of your life by using it as my bed."

Jet smirked, "That is true, we would be pretty torn without that couch. But all joking aside, I guess you could stay with Faye. Her room is smaller than Spike or I's, but I feel that would be the least awkward."

"Doesn't Ed get a room?"

Jet sighed, "In all honest truth, no one really no where Ed sleeps. Or, for that matter, when. She always just kind of disappears and reappears. But she seems quite fond of you, so maybe she'll be around more often?"

"Just kind of disappears and reappears, huh?" Willow replied, but before she could say another word, a certain red headed girl swung down from above, startling Willow enough to lose her balance. She fell to her rump with a squeak, causing Ed to giggle unmercifully.

"Will-Will makes funny rubber ducky noises!" Ed smiled, pointing to the unamused girl.

"That's not funny Ed," A slightly angered Willow retorted, "I could have hit my head and got seriously hurt or something!"

Ed grinned, and flipped down on her feet. She stood giddily in front of Willow as she waited for her to get to her feet, slightly bouncing up and down in excitement. Willow rose slowly, and just as she was nearly standing all the way up, Ed latched onto her hand and pulled her down the hall with her.

"Ed, where the hell are we going?"

Ed laughed, "You'll see Will-Will!"

On and on Ed seemed to travel, Willow in tow. Further and further into the depths of the ship. So far, Willow didn't even have a clue of where she was anymore. Apparently, Jet hadn't shown her the whole ship, because none of the things she was looking at seemed familiar. Willow vaguely wondered why Ed was pulling her so far into the ship, and where they were even going. But she figured asking this strange girl would only lead to more confusion, so all questions she kept to herself.

After about ten minutes of walking, Ed quite abruptly stopped, causing Willow to bump into her lightly.

"Hey Ed, why did you stop?"

Ed swung her body around excitedly, "From here on, we are TRUE explorers, Will-Will!"

"True... Explorers? Doesn't me getting picked up by you guys and being launched into space garner me that name already?"  
Ed shook her head, "No-OOO-ooo-OOOO! Not until you've been where I'm going to take you."

A bad feeling came over Willow, "And where, may I ask, is that?"

"Where we can see it all! Come on!"

And with that, Ed galloped over to a stack of pipes leading up to the ceiling and climbed all the way to the top, reaching the air duct. She kicked it in, and crawled through, motioning for Willow to follow her. Willow just stared on in shock. Who exactly was this girl? Where the hell were her parents? And why was Willow the one stuck with her?

"Come on, Will-Will!"

With a sigh of defeat, Willow knew Ed wouldn't take no for an answer. So, up she climbed and in she went. Not surprisingly, it was dark and cramped. But Willow wasn't very large, so crawling through it wasn't a big deal. As Ed continued to call out her name in a singsong sort of way, Willow could tell that she was quite far ahead of her. Willow crawled as fast as she could to make it to Ed. And in a short time, she found her. Squatting on her feet, staring down through another opening in the duct. The girls had reached a vent.

"First specimen," Ed smiled, "the big Jet creature! Look, Will-Will! He's in his natural habitat!"

Willow stared down through the cracks of the vent, and low and behold Jet was there, in the kitchen of the ship feeding Ein. Nothing unusual, nor exciting, "Um, Ed, why are you showing this to me?"

Ein suddenly looked up at the vent, noticing the two girls presence. He began to bark feverishly, excited to see his owner and new friend, "What is it, boy," Jet asked, "what do you see?"

"Oh no, we've been discovered! Come on, Will-Will! We have to move before the assault!"

"Wha-" But before she could answer, Ed tugged her roughly away from the vent and further through the shaft.

Jet, upon looking up to the vent and seeing nothing, looked back down at the now quiet Ein. "Barking at nothing, now? Maybe you shouldn't be around Ed so much. Her weirdness is rubbing off on you..."

Ein lowered his head, and whimpered in embarassment.

After a few more minutes of awkwardly clanking after Ed in the tubes, they reached another stopping point. This time, the vent was positioned above Faye's room.

"And look," Ed whispered excitedly, pointing down, "Here we have the Faye-osouris doing her everyday Faye things!"

Willow glanced down at the woman, lying in her bed, boredly flipping through what looked like an old fashion magazine. She was also mumbling under her breath, probably commenting on the clothes.

"Wow, exciting." Was all Willow could comment, but apparently, it was slightly too loud.

"Who the hell was that?!"

Willow and Ed looked up at each other. Faye did not sound pleased.

"Ed, is that you again? Dammit! I told you not to crawl overhead in those damn tunnels! What are, you some of creepy old perv who likes spying on woman?! Get down here, NOW!"

"Uh oh, ABORT MISSION!" Ed whispered excitedly, before clanking off faster into the darkness of the tunnel.

"Abort mission? Hey Ed, wa- AH!"

Before she knew, a rather upset Faye had taken a broom and was ferociously beating the duct, shaking it uncontrollably. Willow's hands clung to it, like a cat trying to keep from falling into a tub of water. She wanted to yell down for her to stop, but was too worried what her new room mate would think of her crawling around like some creep through the ventilation shafts. So shakily, she moved forward, vowing that as soon as she reached Ed she would ring her neck. On second thought, she would repeatedly bang her head against a wall. She was, after all, the one who followed the girl freely.

She reached Ed in no time, "What the hell was that about? Ed, how often do you do this?!"

"Oh, whenever the adventuring snake bites me and fills me with it's epic venom. Faye Faye only catches me when she's lucky, though!" Ed sang back, not in the least bit fazed by Faye's sudden attack.

"Well, have you ever considered stopping? I mean, it is kind of awkward for a kid to be crawling around in ventilation shafts, even for someone as off beat as you are."

"But it's my connection to people, Willy Nilly!"

"Huh," Confusion laced her voice, "what are you talking about."

Ed turned around and plopped down, sitting Indian style. She looked into Willow's eyes, and for a moment the young girl was taken off guard by the flash of serious in this crazy child's eyes, "If I didn't peek from up above, how else would I know that when Jet's alone in the kitchen, he likes to hum romantic tunes from his hey day and gets a far away look in his eye? Or that Faye likes to watch sappy mini series when she's alone, and even cries a little? Or that when Ein sleeps, he sometimes twitches his legs, like he's on a good hunt? They'd never say these things, Willy! So just like an adventurer, I found them out on my own!"

Willow thought this over in her head. It's true, though she just met them, she was pretty sure Jet wouldn't get so nostalgic in front of other people freely, and that Faye would never admit to crying over cheesy television. She was even sure Ein might be a little embarrassed by his dog dreams. And though none of these things were really all that abnormal or outstanding things to do, for some reason, knowing this made Willow feel closer to the crew. Like she had heard a part of their lives that only they would tell or show her after they really got to know her. She was starting to see why Ed climbed around above anyone. Yes, it was creepy, but the human connections she got from this experience were surprising to say the least.

"But the best person to people watch is right over there!"

Ed's voice broke Willow's thoughts, and her eyes traveled from the grinning girls face, down her arm to her pointed finger, to the destination her finger was pointing out. It was another vent, and also appeared to be the final one before a dead end.

"The best person, huh? Let me take a guess and say Spike resides in that room?" She hated to admit it, but even saying his name made me heart beat faster, and the fact that he was inches from her (without his knowledge) made Willow feel even more anxious.

"Right you are! Spike person is the most interesting of them all to sneak a peek on!"

"Why exactly is that?"

"Because he's always doin' something watch worthy, like punching the air working on his fighting skills, or sleeping with a funny expression on his face! It's all very interesting stuff for an adventurer and her trainee, so LET'S GO!"

Before Ed could clunk away, Willow nervously grabbed her arm to stop her. Being around her real dad and not knowing how to approach him was stressful enough as is, but to spy on him... She just couldn't bring herself to do that. This man was such a mystery to her. Even with all the countless stories her mother told her, it wasn't the same as actually KNOWING him. And it's not like he'd treat her the same way he'd treat Julia, anyway. So to spy on a man she was so intimate, yet so distanced from, was very unnerving to her. She wanted to get to know Spike head on, through conversations and interactions. Not through creepily staring at him up in a vent with a very strange little girl.

"I... I don't think we should do this anymore Ed."

"Huh? You can't just stop an expedit-"

"I mean it, Ed."

The forcefulness in Willow's voice surprised Ed, and after a moment of quiet, Ed nodded an OK, smiled, and both of them began to crawl back the way they had come. At least, that's what they TRIED to do.

As Willow was crawling behind Ed a few inches, she heard a small click and stopped moving.

"Ed, did you hear that? What was it?"

"Huh? I didn't here a thing. Not a thing, not a ding, not even a ching-a-ling-a-ling..." Ed crawled on, not even stopping to look back.

Willow sighed, "OK, then..."

But then, as soon as Willow shifted her body to start crawling again, she immediately regretted it.

A huge creak, a swift shift, and before she knew it, the whole section of piping she was in had broken, and she came crashing down with a squeal into the room beneath her. She shut her eyes tightly while she feel, waiting for a painful impact. Luckily, however, she landed on something soft. She sighed in relief.

"... What the hell are you doing?"

Willow looked up to see none other than Spike Spiegel. Apparently, she had landed on his bed, right next to where the man was sitting. He was leaning over her, so that his face was inches above hers, and the lighting covered it mostly in shadows which made him seem more menacing. He neither looked, nor sounded, very pleased.

"... Practicing my voyeurism?" She laughed nervously.

Spike sighed, and sat up straight, his back turned to the girl, " I don't know what's more surprising, the fact that such a "cute young lady" is climbing through the vent shaft like a sewer rat, or that a complete "bad ass" literally just squealed."

Willow immediately blushed, "Shut up! Ed dragged me up there, OK? And you'd squeal too if you were crawling along and all of a sudden the floor just gave way!"

Spike stood up, "I wouldn't be crawling in the first place, I'm not a baby who likes pretending to be a spy so they climb through vents and stare at people, breaking them in the process. That's coming out of your first pay check, I hope you know. And would you please get off my bed?"

At this point, Willow was so red with anger and embarrassment, all she could think to do was follow his orders. She stood up quickly, and hurried over to Spike, who at this point, was standing by the entrance to his room, holding the door open for Willow with his foot. When she approached him, she had gotten over her funk well enough to give him a piece of her mind. She was ready and eager to go off on him befored something in his hand caught her eye. He was holding a small frame in his hand, and though his hand covered most of the picture, she could still make out the face between his fingers.

He was holding a picture of Julia. And from the looks of it, it was the exact same picture of her and him that Julia had. The first one of her two parents together that she ever saw.

Willow's eye's immediately snapped from the picture, up to Spike's eyes. Upon further looking, she saw something that again surprised her. Though they were extremely faint, Willow could still make out two small trails that tears had carved onto his face. And from the slight redness from his eyes, she could tell they were fresh.

At that moment she felt her connection with the crew of the Bebop come full circle.

"What are you looking at?" Spike asked, staring at the girl with a puzzled expression.

"It's uh... Um... It's just that... I was wondering what I should do about the mess I just caused."

"Just leave it. I'll go tell Jet about it in a little while."

Willow nodded, and continued going out the door. Just as she stepped out, Spike released his foot, causing the door to slide close. After the door had closed, Willow release a shuddering breath and leaned against it's frame, her voice releasing in a shaky whisper.

"I always loved that picture."

After leading Willow out of his room, he looked back at the carnage of broken ventilation littering his small room and frowned. He scratched his head, and walked over to the mess of pipes, kicking it a little once he reached it. He released a loud sigh, and reached into his pocket for his cigarettes and lighter. He lit up, and inhaled deeply. On the exhale, he looked down at the picture of himself and Julia he had in his hand. Not only was it his favorite picture, it was the only one he had of her. He rarely ever took it out to look at it, preferring to not let his emotions get in the way of his work and life as a bounty hunter. But with the sudden appearance of a young girl that looked shockingly similar to his love, he couldn't help but be reminded of back then, that time...

Spike smirked, before quietly reflecting to himself.

"She may look like you, but she sure as hell doesn't act that way."

He then locked the old and worn photo in his dresser, and went off to report the damage to Jet.


End file.
